Just a Simple Set of Letters
by supersadisticsam004
Summary: A collection of one-shots that were based on the alphabet.
1. Alcohol and Adele

With my hands shaky, my breathing ragged, my palms clammy, my hair drenched with sweat, and eyes tired and strained, I tried my best to coordinate my hands and eyes enough to insert the key into my front door's keyhole. Once I managed to open the door, I dragged my feet to bring me inside. Locking the door behind me, I continued to drag myself to the sofa. I dropped on the sofa, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

It has always been like this every Friday - hectic. Maybe it was a way for people to treat themselves for surviving yet another week in work and that the next day they need not to wake up early and force themselves to go to work. We don't get individuals who go by themselves, we get groups. Throngs of people! They line up outside the establishment despite the fact that they can enter around 45 minutes later. The workplace would be heated and everyone would be agitated. Curse words and orders would fill the air. After getting absolutely drained in work, getting back from work was a delight. My best bet would be to use the subway although people would be rushing in and out the train cart and they wouldn't mind if they bumped you. Nope, they wouldn't mind at all. The buses would be full with people who are dying to get home and traffic would be heavy.

I jerked awake. Looked like I dozed off for a moment there. I scoped my apartment for a moment. It was small but it was enough for me. By enough for me, I meant it was all my budget could get. I stand by my earlier statement though. My apartment was fine. It had all I needed. My favorite part of my unit was definitely the kitchen. I installed a wine rack, a small window sill garden, a long magnet on the wall for my knives, and the installment where you can hang pots and pans. I bought a bigger fridge and a new stove with a decent oven too. Forget having to sleep on a bed on the floor for a couple months, my kitchen always came first.

Reluctantly getting off the sofa, I forced myself to go take a shower. I peeled off my clothes and jumped into a shower. The warm water was relaxing. I could just stay under the shower until all the hot water runs out. It felt amazing - the hot water droplets hitting you back, making your muscles less tense. I was shampooing my hair when I heard a loud thud, as if a door was pushed close too forcefully. Then a set of keys were rattling before being thrown on a dish. There was a sigh. These paper thin walls make it easy to know whether my neighbors were home or not and it looks like 9C is home. Ever since I moved in into this building, 9C has always made me...blush.

Long blonde hair that curled like a princess's. Gray eyes that would look at you pointedly. Athletic physique. Tall. Hear me out! She wasn't only attractive, I wouldn't only want to compartmentalize her in the category of just being pretty, she was an amazing person: smart, kind, funny, charming, and all the other adjectives that you would use to describe a dream. Don't even get me started when she would smile. As cliche as it may sound, it's like the world would stop and you can't focus on anything but how her smile may you feel - warm, fuzzy, reassured, tingly, and safe.

The first time I saw her was when I was moving in. I brought up my boxes and started unpacking. I had the day off and it was a lazy afternoon. With the door left open since I had too much boxes and I haven't put them away efficiently, I was bending over a box. I wasn't wearing a shirt since the summer heat made my sweat drench whatever shirt I wore.

"Oops." I heard a small female voice say by the door.

I looked up and just barely saw a glimpse of a lock of blonde hair. I heard someone move with their footfalls quick against the floor of the hallway. They frantically opened their front door and immediately closed it. I just shrugged it off.

Aside from unpacking my things, I wanted to install certain furniture especially the ones in the kitchen. I started driving a nail into the cement wall to make drilling easier later. After drilling one hole, there was a knock on my door.

"Hello? 9B?" Someone called out.

I unplugged the portable hand drill and poked my head out of the kitchen to see who it was. It was as if my eyes zeroed in on her. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she wore an old shirt and shorts. She stayed out in the hall and tiptoed to see if there was anyone home.

I walked towards the door and smiled. "Hi, may I help you?"

"I know you're new here so I'll brief you just like everyone who moved in here or was already living here." She said, showing authority. "I need you to keep it down because not everyone wants to have someone pounding against their wall, not everyone wants to go over to their neighbors to keep it down, and not everyone wants their neighbor to go to them to tell them to keep it down. So if you keep it down, everyone is happy." She smiled.

"I get you." Taken aback by her tirade. "But you have to understand that I just moved in and I'm installing some furniture. I do believe that it is still a rather reasonable time to be doing the installation." I smiled back.

"I understand that. I'm just telling you as early as now to keep it down or we'll have a problem." She smiled sweetly at me.

"Alright. Noted."

She flashed me another smile before walking back to her unit.

I leaned on the door frame and watched her, "Hey," I called after her, "I didn't get your name."

"9C." She said without even looking back and went back to her unit.

It was a lasting first impression, I tell you. Whenever I would see her or bump into her, I'd just smiled at her but dared not to strike a conversation with her.

The next time I spoke with her was that one time I was in the lobby. I was checking my mail in the mail lockers when I heard her voice as she entered the building.

"No, you can't argue that in the debate. That's definitely not the context of the debate!"

Her voice became louder and louder and before I know it, she was standing beside me. She unlocked her mail locker and got her mail. Keeping her phone in between her ear and her shoulder, she checked her mail and continued talking. It seemed like she talking about a very serious matter but it turns out she's just debating with a friend over the phone over something I didn't quite get.

She browsed her mail and flashed me that charming smile of hers. I felt my cheeks heat up as I tried my best to smile back at her. I quickly re-read my mail again.

"You know what you can argue though, the principles of the criminal justice system." She locked her locker and quickly raised her eyebrows at me as a way of acknowledging me before heading up.

You can hear her voice echo as she climbed up the stairs, "Yes. Yes! You read my mind. Yes!"

I shook my head and continued with my business.

The third time which is the one I'm most fond of was when we were heading up to our units at the same time.

I was walking to the building, tired from work, and I saw her, coming from the opposite way. I smiled and waved at her while she did the same. I opened the door for her and elicited another smile from her.

"So," I started as we climbed up the stairs, "I made sure that I haven't been making unreasonable noises."

She chuckled, "That's good to know. You're doing everyone in the building a favor."

I smiled, "So how's work?"

She let out a sigh, "Tiring. I think I haven't gotten any decent sleep for this month. I can't even get a couple minutes of alone time in the coffee room without some nurse looking for me or calling my name through the intercom."

I could only imagine how her work was treating her.

"There was one time I was asleep with my eyes open when a nurse was briefing me what the patient's complications are. Oh, that was embarrassing." She laughed.

I laughed along with her. I took at good look at her and noticed how tired her eyes looked. Whenever she would smile or laugh, her eyebags would reveal themselves. Her hair was tied into a messy ponytail and underneath her coat were clothes that I think I saw her wearing when she left the building days ago.

"Wait, are you wearing a lab coat?" I pointed out.

She looked at what she was wearing and laughed, "Oh will you look at that. At least I'm not wearing those surgical scrubs and mask. That would've been worse." She glanced at me. "How about you? Being promoted to head chef any time soon?"

"I - how did you know I was a chef?" My eyes widened.

"Your scars tell me so." She smirked. "And whenever you cook, it's like everyone in the building is drawn to your unit."

I was about to drop some flirty line like "You can always come over every time I cook" but her phone rang. She gave me a sheepish smile before answering her phone. I tried to listen in on her conversation but medical jargons and chemicals started to be the only words that came out of her mouth. When we got to our floor, she gave me another sheepish smile before heading to her unit and entering.

Cold water made me jump. I turned off the shower and started to get ready for bed. Since a wall was the only thing separating my room and her unit, I could hear her as I got dressed.

"'Daydreamer with eyes that make you melt. He lends his coat for shelter. Plus he's there for you when he shouldn't be but he stays all the same. Waits for you then sees you through.'" Someone sang.

I smiled and changed my pajama bottoms for loose jeans. Pocketing my keys, I grabbed my favorite aged wine and made my way out. Making sure my breath was minty fresh, I knocked on 9C's door.

She opened the door and poked her head out, "May I help you, 9B?"

"I was wondering if you wanted some company." I smiled. "I have wine."

She smiled back and retracted her head before closing the door to remove the chain lock. She opened the door and held her hand out to gesture me to come in.

"Welcome to my humble abode." She said as she closed the door behind her. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just wear something more appropriate."

I noticed that she was wearing a short charmeuse nightgown. Her hair wasn't tied and naturally curled until her shoulder blades. She made her way to her room. While she was away, I scoped her unit. It was just an exact copy of my unit but she had numerous bookshelves. Aside from her the books jammed into her bookshelves, there were others that were on and under the coffee table. She has a television and a vinyl player that was currently playing Adele's album 19. Her kitchen looked bare and rarely stepped on. I sat on her couch and heard her closet door closing. She came out wearing a sweater over her nightgown.

"You have a lot of books." I noted.

"Nothing beats a well read individual." She smiled and got the wine bottle which I placed on top of her coffee table. She went to her kitchen and readied a bucket full of ice for the wine.

"I never knew that you liked Adele." I said as I made my way to the kitchen as well.

"Oh yeah, who wouldn't like her?" She made a face.

"Here, let me get that." I offered and refilled her ice cube tray with water. I slowly made my way to her fridge as she jokingly taunted me with every step I took.

"I have every vinyl she has." She said, proud.

"I heard vinyls sound better."

"Hmm," She cocked her head, "I suppose."

"The music sounds more in depth." I suggested.

She nodded and gestured for us to go to the living room. I carried the bucket with the wine.

"I noticed that Adele's not as melancholic as her two albums." I said as I gently placed the bucket on the coffee table.

"She was actually anxious about releasing 25. That maybe her listeners wouldn't enjoy it as much as her previous albums." She placed two wine glasses down as well before sitting down on the couch. "Besides, she already has a kid, 9B."

"So, what got you into Adele's music?" I asked.

"Her voice is amazing. Her songs capture the emotions and at the same time are catchy." She looked at me. "Need I say more?"

"Does that mean you can relate with her songs?"

She stared at me for a moment and tilted her head back as she laughed, "Are you trying to get me to talk about my love life?"

I smirked at her. "Maybe."

"You aren't getting anything out of me."

"Are you sure? Nothing a couple glasses of wine could get?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Try me." She taunted and reached for the wine bottle.

We opened the bottle and shared a glass of wine. Never have I thought that I would be spending my Friday night drinking wine and listening to Adele with 9C. From 19 to 21 to 25 then a couple more repeats, our wine was running low and our skins were blushing. We managed to talk about our families and our lives that led us to this moment.

9C grew up in San Francisco. Her father is an American and Military history professor at West Point while her mother is a scientist. Her parents met while her father was studying history in Harvard. Her mother helped him get through his studies and they ended up falling in love. When 9C was born, her mother left her with her father although he originally didn't want her. This caused tension between her and her father. When he got married and had twin sons, 9C ran away due to frequent fights with her stepmother and her father did nothing about it. She barely heard from her mother and she only got letters from her father, asking her to come back home. She managed to fend for herself and worked her way to where she is now. She recently reconnected with her father and managed to reconcile with him.

She reached for the wine bottle and pouted when she realized it was empty.

"Wait, I have more wine in my apartment." I said and stood up. I quickly ran to my apartment and got my next favorite wine. I locked the door and went back to her unit. She was staring off into space as I went back in.

"Hey." I said and slowly walked to her after softly closing the door behind me.

She looked at me and said an almost inaudible "Hey."

"Are you alright?" I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

She nodded her head and reached for the wine bottle so she can place it in the bucket of cold water.

I think we hit a little too close home when we talked about our family and childhood.

"Have you eaten dinner?" She asked me. "I can call for some Chinese takeouts or pizza."

"Oh, let me cook you some dinner." I said.

"Oh no, it might be too much for you for a Friday night. We can just order something."

"It will be my pleasure to cook you dinner." I smiled. "Come on." I held her hand and helped her up.

She smiled, "Alright, alright."

We cleaned up and turned off the vinyl player. I carried the wine while she brought the wine glasses. We went to my apartment and I readied dinner after placing the wine in the fridge. I plugged in my phone to my sound system and played Adele once again.

I decided to make a quick pasta dish and as I boiled some pasta, 9C sat behind my kitchen island and watched me.

"I knew I was going to get dinner from the chef next door." She smiled at me.

I scrunched up my eyebrows and smiled. "How did you know I was a chef?" I walked over to her.

She held my hand and pointed out a couple scars, "Knife scars."

"Could happen to anyone."

She held my hand and opened it, palm upwards. She traced a scar I got a couple months back. "You got this from a handle of a cast iron pan. You probably held it without a pot holder."

"Fine." I said, defeated.

"Aside from your scars, you smell like food every time you come home." She smiled.

Still holding my hand, she started drawing patterns on the palm of my hand. She looked up at me and smiled. I started leaning towards her before she pulled back. "Oh, your pasta's boiling over."

I swiftly ran to my burner and lowered the heat. That was embarrassing. Yes, leave it to me to mess up in something that should be natural for me when I'm cooking for someone I fancy. Thank you, self. I heard her giggle and I turned around only to see her covering her mouth. Her face was blushed, well more pink compared to her alcohol induced blush but I bet my face was redder as to her's.

"Act like nothing happened." I said.

"Nothing happened." She flashed me a charming smile.

I went through my fridge and brought out what I needed. I started to sauté sliced chicken breasts, added some garlic, and flavored it with some salt and pepper. Simultaneously, I fried some bacon and checked on my spaghetti noodles. I added brocolli to the sauce then milk. Once the pasta was al dente, I turned off the heat, drained it, and set it aside. Finally for the sauce, I placed some chopped parsley which I washed and got from my very own herb garden on my window sill, parmesan cheese, and the fried bacon in the pot. I mixed in the spaghetti noodles and was done cooking.

"That smells amazing." 9C went over to the burner to take a peek at what I cooked. "I wanted to check it since a while ago but I didn't want to get in your way."

I laughed and held out a fork with a brocolli on the tines for her to try. She bit her lip before opening her mouth so I can feed her. She gave me a wide close lipped smile and nodded.

"I like how the brocolli is still crunchy and the sauce," She paused and swallowed, "And the sauce, creamy and cheesy. Amazing."

"Okay okay, have a seat and I'll ready it." I chuckled.

I got us plates and forks. I placed the pasta in a big bowl and brought it over to the kitchen island which is also my dining table. I brought out a bucket and filled it with ice for the wine. After opening the wine, I poured some wine in our glasses.

9C held her glass. "A toast." I followed suit. "To alcohol and Adele." We smiled at each other before clinking our glasses.

We started eating, talking, drinking, and of course, listening to Adele. Basically we were having a good time.

"Hey, may I ask you a question?" I started a couple minutes into dinner.

"You already just did." She gave me a cheeky smile.

I gave her a straight face, "You know what I mean."

She wiped the corners of her lips with a napkin, "Okay, shoot."

It took me a couple seconds to formulate my question. "Uhm, how come you never gave me your name?"

She looked down at her plate and back at me. Her cheeks had an added tinge of red. "Uhm, that's because..." She trailed off.

"Because...?" I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Because I wanted to give you a reason to approach me." She gave me a small shy smile.

I had to bite my lip to keep myself from grinning like an idiot. I cleared my throat and could only say "Oh."

"Annabeth."

"Percy."

"Annabeth Chase." She held out her hand for a handshake.

"Perseus Jackson." I shook her hand but we both didn't let go.

A smile started to slowly spread across her face. "Perseus, nice to meet you."

"Please call me Percy."

"Percy. I'm Annabeth."

"Finally." We both laughed before continuing with our dinner.

When we finished the dinner and our wine was once again running low, I was looking for something sweet. I excused myself from the table and went to the kitchen to crouch and see if I had any desserts I could serve. Luckily, I still had some pot de crème that I made a couple days ago. I got the two remaining ramekins and sat back down on my seat.

"I knew dinner from you would be great." She smiled at me.

"You know, you're always welcome to come over if you want dinner." I started flirting.

"Is that an expiration-free invitation for a date?" She chuckled.

"Well, if you put it that way, yeah, I guess so."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After our dessert, we washed the dishes and put aside our now empty bottle of wine. Our skins were blushed and we were feeling a bit warmer than usual. We were sitting on the sofa while Adele was still singing to us. We sat on each end of the sofa and faced each other.

Her cheeks were reddish pink. Her eyes were not as wide and awake as the moment I knocked. She looked at me and her gray eyes were still bright. She had a small smile on her face as we gently played footsie. There was a comfortable silence that loomed over us as Adele sang and it felt nice.I was sleepy not only because of the exhausting day at work but also the alcohol intake made my eyelids twice as heavy. If you looked out the window you could see the sun rising and coloring the sky dark orange.

"What?" She smiled widely at me.

"You know, I always had a crush on you." I said before I could stop myself.

I watched as her smile slowly disappeared. I just wanted to smack myself at the back of the head for destroying our little moment. Why couldn't I just kept quiet and listened to Adele? She withdrew and hugged her legs. She looked at me with her lower lip in between her teeth. This was it. She'd slowly stand up, tell me that she had a great time, head back to her unit, and never talk to me again. As if fate had timed it correctly, Adele's song has ended and it was a couple more seconds before the next song begins. Annabeth continued to look at me and you can just tell that the wheels in her mind were working. She was probably thinking of a way to escape without having to offend me.

The beginning of Adele's Make You Feel My Love broke the silence. Annabeth stood up and headed for the door. I hung my head in defeat. So this is how it ends.

"Let's dance." She whispered in my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

I turned my head around to see her standing behind me and bending down to whisper to me. She held out her hand and I swung my legs off of the sofa. She brought us to the middle of my living room. I placed my hands on her waist while she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Hi." She smiled at me as we locked eyes.

"Hello." I said just as almost inaudibly as hers.

"When the rain is blowing in your face," Adele broke the silence, "and the whole world is on your case," Annabeth placed her head against my chest, "I could offer you a warm embrace to make you feel my love."

She tightened her embrace and sighed. We swayed to the song as if we had nothing else to do and no care in the world. It was as if time stood still as we clumsily shifted from one foot to another. I closed my eyes and laid my cheek on her head.

I opened my eyes and squinted as the light entering the room registered. I had to blink a couple times to get the sleep off at the same time get used to the bright light. I scoped the room and was dumbfounded to find out that I was in the bedroom and on the bed. I looked to my side to see someone asleep on my shoulder. The blonde hair made me remember that I spent my night with 9C. My arm was wrapped around her. We were both underneath a blanket but I could tell that 9C was embracing me because every time I moved, her arm around my abdomen would tighten.

I looked around the room again to see if there were evidences that would help me piece together what happened last night...or should I say, a while ago early morning. My eyes widened when I saw her sweater carelessly strewn over a chair in my room. Did _something_ happen?

I was starting to freak out when 9C stirred in her sleep. I tried my best not to move so that she could easily go back to sleep. She took a deep breath and nestled closer to me. A couple seconds later, she no longer moved so I thought that she was still asleep. I stood corrected. She slowly looked up at me. She looked adorably sleepy. Her eyes were small slits and her eyebrows were scrunched up. She blinked a couple times before murmuring, "Good morning." She closed her eyes again for a while and then got out of bed so fast that I was left stunned and confused. She gripped the blanket tightly around her.

"I..." She trailed off.

I was still wearing my shirt and my boxers, which was a pair of jeans less than what I was wearing last night, so it meant nothing happened last night. I could also see the straps of her night gown which means she was clothed as well.

"Good morning to you too." I smiled.

She carefully lowered her hand that covered her mouth to reveal a smile.

I patted the space beside me. She slowly walked towards the bed and cautiously sat down by the edge. Awkward silence enveloped us which was far from the comfortable silence we basked in a couple hours ago. She didn't say anything and so did I.

"I should probably go." She said mostly to herself.

Defeated, I got up and handed her her sweater. We made our way to the front door, passing by my phone that was apparently still plugged in to the sound system and playing Adele.

"Adele." She noted and smiled.

I reluctantly opened the door. Letting her leave was far from the imagination that I had which was having her stay over for the whole day. I leaned against the door frame as she stood outside of my apartment.

"So, uhm." She trailed off.

I showed her a timid smile.

"Thank you for last night, 9B." She said, anxiously shifting from one foot to another.

What? 9B? What happened to our first name basis? I made up my mind. I won't let her backtrack all the progress we made last night.

She was about to head back to her apartment when I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. I kissed her as passionately as I could and I felt her smile into the kiss. She threw her arms around my neck and tiptoed. I carefully brought us back inside my apartment, closing the door behind her. I pressed her back against the wall as she ran her fingers through my hair.

"Annabeth." I breathlessly whispered.

She smiled and pulled me back in for more.


	2. Bouquet Toss

I always knew that this day would come. Well, I might have had a crush on him before but that was before. Let's not dwell on that.

"Drink more!" Silena said and handed me a shot glass.

I downed the tequila and quickly sucked on a lime. Gods, alcohol tasted so bad but if it makes them happy, why not.

I took a quick look at the group. They were all laughing and enjoying themselves. Silena was on her way to the counter to order more drinks. Katie was making her way to the comfort room. Thalia was laughing to herself. Still chuckling, she got her purse to check her phone. Silena appeared behind her and grabbed her phone.

"Tonight is your night. It's all about you. Don't even worry what he's doing." Silena said and tucked Thalia's phone back in her purse.

Thalia fixed her plastic tiara with feathers. "You're right."

Katie came back to our table. Silena opened the new bottle of vodka and poured a drink for each one of us, mixing it with some lemon lime soda.

I raised my drink and announced, "To your last night of being legally single!"

We were all in a club in Manhattan, celebrating Thalia's bachelorette party. The guys were somewhere in Manhattan as well, celebrating Luke's bachelor party. Yup, Thalia and Luke. They have been friends ever since they were kids. They went to summer camp together. Despite being apart for college, they still kept in touch until they started working in New York City.

Luke Castellan slowly made his way up the ladder at work. Now he's the president and CEO of the Olympus Express Ground. He's pretty much the head of the logistics of the whole company. His success in his career had a couple drawbacks in other aspects in his life. Numerous times, Thalia would be in a seriously bad mood because Luke would always work late, leaving Thalia to cancel most of their plans. This taught Thalia to make plans in advance but nonetheless, the plans still get cancelled. Thalia spent numerous holidays with Luke's family without Luke because he'd be busy working during the holidays. I won't lie, I have seen pretty nasty fights between the couple. I've had Thalia stay over at my loft because she'd be sulking even though she'll deny that she's affected by the fight. Luke would talk to me, ranting about Thalia and how she can't understand that he has a job or asking me to talk to her for him. Everything turned out to be okay because look at where we are now: a night before they tie the knot.

Thalia Grace, on the other hand, was also very busy with her work. She works as a photographer for National Geographic. She always gets flown to different places and even stays there for months. Her works are stunning and she'd probably have at least one photo in every issue of the National Geographic magazine. If ever she has the spare time, she tries to spend time with Luke or she has side jobs as a photographer for weddings, babies, birthdays, and the like.

For the rest of the night, we just danced to the upbeat music that the club blasted from their speakers. The place was not as crowded as the regular clubs in Manhattan but there was quite a number of people dancing and drinking.

"I need to go to the comfort room." Katie shouted over the loud music. "I'll be right back."

Being the one in the group who drank the least amount of alcohol, I accompanied Katie. Katie was known to be the one with the lowest tolerance to alcohol in the group. She zigzagged her way to the comfort room, holding on to the people she passed by.

"Annabeth! Hi. What are you doing here?" Katie smiled at me as she saw me in the comfort room as well.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were sleepy. She gave me a toothy grin as she waited for me to answer.

"I -" I started but got interrupted.

"Wait. I gots to pee." She said and entered a stall.

I laughed to myself waited for Katie. Once she was done, she washed her hands and went back to the dance floor.

It was around three in the morning when we left the club. A quick recap of our condition. Katie was drunk. Thalia was tipsy. Silena and I were sober. Silena is outstandingly high tolerant when it comes to alcohol. I took care of Katie and Thalia while Silena got us a cab.

"We have to get an aspirin and lots of water inside Katie for tomorrow." Silena said. "She will thank us for it, trust me."

We arrived at the hotel a couple minutes later. Silena brought Katie and Thalia to the room while I was tasked to get the keycard from the front desk. I was waiting for the elevator door to close and I heard a couple loud voices entering the hotel lobby. A group of guys made their way to the front desk and one of them glanced at the elevator. He gave me a smile and a small wave before the elevator doors closed.

Smiling to myself, I went to our room only to find a babbling Katie, sitting on the floor beside our hotel room door. Thalia and Silena both looked tired.

"What is she talking about?" I asked as I pressed the keycard against the scanner and opened the door.

"She started talking in another language. Swedish, I think." Silena said while helping Katie up.

"Jibberish." Thalia said, helping Silena with Katie.

I held the door open and locked it once the three of them got in.

The hotel room had two queen sized beds which according to Thalia was good enough for the four of us. Thalia and I already paired up on one bed and so did Katie and Silena. We got one room because the next day, the ones doing our hair and make up will arrive and we will all get ready in this room. All our dresses for the wedding are already here especially Thalia's wedding dress.

"You guys get ready for bed." I said. "I'll take care of Katie."

Silena lied down beside Katie and Thalia went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I managed to strip off Katie's dress and got her to wear her nightdress. She was in a sitting position, still babbling, while I got a glass and got water from the tap in the bathroom. I got some aspirin from my purse and gave it to Katie. I gave her some more water and let her sleep already.

Thalia and Silena were already fast asleep and I was the only one awake. I got my pajamas and took a quick shower. I was brushing my teeth when I heard something buzz in my purse.

Oh yeah! Forgot about my phone.

I retrieved my phone from my purse beside my bed and looked at who it was. Aside from some text messages from work, I got a couple from only one person. I smiled and read the texts.

When I was about to get comfortable under the sheets, someone called me.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Hey. Where are you?"

"I'm in the room."

"Want to stay at our room?" They said with an obvious smile in their voice.

"I'll be right there." I smiled then hung up.

I stealthily got out of bed, tiptoed to the door, got a robe, and headed out. I went in the elevator and punched in the highest floor. I passed numerous mirrors on my way to the room and tried to fix my hair as I did. I knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

"Hi." I smiled as I greeted the one who opened the door.

The person smiled back at me and pulled me by the waist into the room. The door was quickly closed behind me and my neck was smothered with kisses.

I laughed while running my fingers through his hair with my eyes rolling back, "Well, hello to you too."

"Hi." The person said in between kisses.

The person pulled back and with the dim lights slightly illuminating the room, I saw his sea green eyes looking at me. He smiled at me before kissing my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up. He brought me to the bed and gently laid me down. He got on top of me and I rolled us over so I was on top. I sat on his tummy as we continued kissing. His hands that were once buried in my hair trailed down to my shoulders to my sides to my waist and finally rested on the knot that kept my robe shut.

I pulled away. "Yes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"May I?" He smiled. "To make you more comfortable, you know."

I chuckled and went back to kissing him. He cautiously removed the knot and his hands once again explored my upper body. I felt his touch inside my robe, making his way from my waist, up to my sides, up to my shoulders, and to my arms. He took off my robe.

With his lower lips in between my teeth, I gingerly pulled away then released. I got my robe which pooled around my waist and tossed it on a chair relatively near the bed. I was moving closer to him once again when out of the blue, he flipped us over. He was on top me, pinning me down by holding my wrists over my head.

"Hi." He whispered and started kissing down my neck.

Oh Gods.

A couple minutes of making out passed before we decided that we should get some sleep for tomorrow. I nestled between his arm and his abdomen while I wrapped my arm around him and drew random patterns on his chest. He played with my hair as we talked about our respective parties.

"We went to this strip club that this guy at Travis and Connor's work suggested. So no surprise when we saw him there. There were tons of drinks and we decided to stick to one girl. She was nice and pretty..." He trailed off and looked at me.

"What?"

"Does that bother you?" He asked me.

"What? Why do you think it bothers me?"

He looked at my hand that rested on top of his chest. "You stopped drawing patterns."

"Oh." I started doodling on him again.

With a smile in his voice, he asked me, "Are you jealous of a stripper?"

"Shut up."

He pulled away to look at me. He was smiling, amused with how I was handling his story telling. I could feel my cheeks involuntarily warming up. His smile widened and he lifted his hand to caress my cheek.

"Wise Girl, you have nothing to worry about."

I looked up at him and he tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"I know." I said as I laid my head back on his shoulder. "Because I'm not even jealous in the first place, Seaweed Brain."

He chuckled. "Okay, whatever you say, Wise Girl."

We continued sharing our stories until we called it a night.

With the curtains drawn, it was pitch black in the room. Both of us were under the duvets and comfortably wrapped in each other arms with our legs tangled together. It was quiet except for the hum from the air conditioning, our breathing, the friction between our skin and the beddings whenever we moved, and the faint honks of the car from the streets outside. Soon enough, his breathing steadied.

I whispered. "I love you, Seaweed Brain."

I was surprised when a faint "I love you too, Wise Girl" followed a couple seconds after that.

I could feel Percy's arms wrapped around my waist as my back was to him. With utmost reluctance, I slowly opened my eye. I could see the sunlight outlining the dark floor length curtains. It's morning. _It's morning._

I sat up so quick that I got dizzy for a moment. It's Thalia's wedding day. Silena already had the whole day scheduled. By nine o'clock sharp, I have to be sitting down on the makeup artist's chair, Katie should be having her hair done, and Thalia should be drinking champagne.

"What? What? Is there a fire?" Percy sat up and looked around with the sleepiest look on his face. He looked so lost especially with his eyes still droopy.

"It's morning." I said. "Silena's going to kill me if I am even just a second late for the preparations."

He groaned a fell back in bed. I got out of bed and grabbed my robe on the chair beside the bed. I tried to comb through my hair with my fingers while tying the robe shut.

"Come back to bed, Wise Girl."

I smiled despite the urgency that has already sunk in. "Not the right time, Seaweed Brain."

"Come on, the buffet breakfast doesn't even start in fifteen minutes." He coaxed. "And Selina wouldn't mind if you were a couple minutes late just because you were getting breakfast."

I took off my robe and lied back down in bed, facing Percy. He smiled at me and ran his fingers through my hair, trying to untangle it.

"If Silena gets mad at me, you're the one who'll deal with her." I said to which he chuckled to.

We cuddled for a while before deciding to get up for the buffet. We wore robes over our sleepwear. Almost everyone there was already wearing their clothes for the day. We looked around, seeing what the hotel served, and then helped ourselves. I sat down on an empty table and looked at Percy as he continued to build a mountain on his plate.

Perseus Jackson. Percy. My Seaweed Brain. As cliche as it sounds or as much as you hear other women say it, I am really lucky to have someone so amazing like him in my life. I mean I could get through my life all by myself. Without any guy. It's not like I couldn't function without a guy. I'd still be in the place that I am in right now. With or without him. I am getting ahead of myself.

He was what complements my life. I can think of numerous analogies to what he is to me. He is the icing to my cake. He is the garnish in my dish. He is the whipped cream to my frappe. He is the ribbon on my gift. He made my life better. Since I already have him in my life, I can't imagine my life without him. My life would pretty much be average without him.

I looked over to him once again and smiled. His medium length jet black hair showed that he has just gotten out of bed. You could see his sea green eyes darting around the buffet line as he looks for something to top his food mountain. For a fleeting moment, our eyes locked before he looked back at me. A smile that made my cheeks heat up slowly spread across his face. He grabbed one last mini croissant and made his way to our table.

"Do you like what you see?" He joked.

"Very much so." I chuckled.

Percy works as a civil engineer who specializes on making structures that are resistant to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and storms. I mean, of course that's the goal of every civil engineer but I have to say that his designs are amazing. As a civil engineer as well, I have to commend his works. When I asked him what got him to study civil engineering, he said that his father was very fond hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and storms. He thought that it would be a nice challenge to make something to resist those.

I met him when he presented one of his projects for the city of New York and I was in the audience since I work as the executive urban planner of New York City. A very stressful job if you asked me. A couple days after his presentation, I got a call from him asking me out for coffee so we could further delve into his project. To be honest, the coffee date did nothing to change my decision of whether approving his project or not. My team and I just reviewed it once or twice and it was already the top of the list of the different projects for that lot presented to us. After the decision was out, he asked me out to dinner and that's where everything began.

The drawback of our relationship is the conflict of interest on my part. Whenever Percy would have a project, Malcolm who was second after me would have the final say.

"Would you like some coffee?" Percy asked me, squeezing my hand.

"Please and thank you." I smiled.

He stood up. I looked up at him as he passed by me and he kissed my forehead causing me to close my eyes and smile. I sighed. I don't know if it were possible to fall in love with him even more.

He came back, carrying two cups of piping hot coffee. We started eating our breakfast and we won't deny that we might have gone back to the buffet a numerous times. On my nth round, I heard someone call me and it wasn't Percy.

"Annabeth!"

I whipped my head towards whoever called me and Silena made a beeline towards me.

"Where have you been? We are to expected to be in hair and make up in thirty minutes!" She said in one breath.

"I just wanted to get some breakfast before the wedding preparations." I reasoned out.

"No. No. No. Don't you even start with me, Annabeth. How many rounds have you made? You know we can't eat as much because you want to perfectly fit the dresses that just arrived from France." She started her tirade but I already blocked her out.

"The measurements I sent have allowances so don't worry about me not fitting in the dress." I placed some more bacon on my plate. "I know you already allotted time for delays and unexpected turn of events. I will be just fine. Besides, is Thalia even awake already?"

An almost inaudible "no" came out of her lips.

"Why don't you help yourself to some breakfast and relax?" I smiled at her. "Their pastries are good."

"No, I'm good." She said. "But a cup of coffee would be nice."

I walked to our table and sat down in front of Percy.

"Crisis averted." I whispered and he chuckled.

Silena sat down with us minutes later with a cup of coffee.

We were talking about how exciting it is to have someone in our group of friends get married. Silena was seeing someone, Charles Beckendorf, and there has been some talk amongst us that they were the next ones to tie the knot. They have been together for quite some time but so are Percy and me.

Silena checked her watch and downed her coffee. "Annabeth, I need you in the suite in thirty minutes. The preparations have to start."

She strutted her way out of the dining area. I looked at Percy and groaned.

He smiled and comforted me. "Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time together after the reception." He wink at me, making me blush.

"Are we sleeping in our room tonight?"

"You bet. Now go get ready because if you don't, Silena might be after my head in a while."

I laughed and got up. I wrapped some bread and pastries in a napkin, pocketed it, got a steaming hot cup of coffee, and went to the elevator. I pressed the floor of our suite and calmly walked to the room. I knocked.

"Good! You followed my instruction." Silena said as she let me in to our room. "Wasn't the buffet enough for you?" She eyed the pocket of my robe.

"Good morning, today's bride!" I greeted Thalia as she was stretching, obviously just woken up. "I got you some coffee and something to munch on before or as you get ready." I laid everything on her bedside table.

She smiled widely at me. "You're the best."

I smiled back. "How is today's bride feeling? Woke up on the right side of the bed, did we?"

With her eyes close and a smile still on her face, she nodded at me.

"You just drink your coffee and eat. We'll take care of everything." I smiled.

I asked Silena how Katie felt and it looks like she woke up just fine. Katie was in the bathroom, showering. A couple minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Silena let in a couple people in the room. They brought big bags and boxes along with them. They started setting up and all in all, there were areas designated for makeup, hair, and for the bride.

Silena and Katie were the first ones the hair and makeup artists would attend to then Thalia and me because we haven't showered. Thalia was happily munching her goodies while Silena and Katie sat on the seats in their robes and I showered. I showered quickly and shaved. I exited the bathroom, wrapped in my robe, and I noticed that there were already some photographers snapping photos of the preparations. One photographer was already taking photos of Thalia in bed.

Honestly, I am not a big fan of makeup and fancy hairdos. The most makeup I have ever put on is lipstick and my hairdos range from letting it dry naturally, tying it up into a ponytail, a bun, or making a chignon. I'm always in a rush and I would prefer to use the last seconds of my time away from work for sleep.

What felt like hours of sitting down while letting someone else do my makeup and hair and take pictures of me, I was finally free. I looked at my reflection on the mirror. I could get used to this look. My makeup was light and my lips took on the color of dark marsala red. My blonde hair was in a messy low updo. Nah, I'd rather sleep than wake up early to do my hair and makeup. I scoped the room and everyone looked beautiful.

We had to change our robes for white dress shirts since we had a photo shoot afterwards. I paired my white dress shirt with white shorts and tucked it in, using a belt to embellish my look. I wore sneakers while Silena raised an eyebrow at me. Everyone had to wear white in this photo shoot then later we had another photo shoot where we're already wearing the dresses for the ceremony.

I looked around the room once I was already dressed and I smiled to myself. Thalia looked amazing. At that moment, the photographer was taking pictures of her while she posed beside her dress. She looked happy and her eyes gleamed with excitement. It was as if nothing would ever rue her day.

"Can we get her entourage in here?" The photographer called out.

Silena, Katie, and I went up to Thalia and got directions from the photographer on where to stand and what to do. Thalia was still in her robe while we were all wearing white. It took a little less than an hour for that photo shoot to end. We had to change once again for another photo shoot. Thalia got changed first and as she exited the bathroom, everyone was silent. Her wedding dress looked phenomenal. It was an all white, strapless, lace mermaid dress. It had a deep sweetheart neckline. A thin belt embellished the dress. The upper half of the dress was body hugging and as the dress progressed towards the floor, the fit become loose and there was a medium length train behind her. She had simple jewelries on: a thin bracelet, necklace, and a pair of earrings.

She was ready to get married. She was ready to become Mrs. Castellan.

"What?" She asked us.

I walked towards her and hugged her tightly. "You are amazing." I whispered.

"Gods, Annabeth, don't you even start with me." Her voice was quivering.

I tried my best not to cry but I teared up a bit. "I love you so much."

I felt two more people hug us and all I could hear were sniffles.

"Okay, okay. Don't get mascara on my dress, guys." She joked and the three of us backed away.

"Don't worry." The makeup artist said. "I chose wet proof mascara."

We all laughed and changed.

The dress that Thalia wanted for me looked beautiful but not up to par with hers. My dress was black and floor length. Thalia insisted that her entourage wear black because if she can't wear black on her wedding day, she wanted the entourage to do so. My dress was fitted from bust to waist and the skirt was flowy. The textile of the skirt was light. The neckline of my dress was a deep sweetheart as well but there was a chiffon layer that altered the neckline into halterneck. What I loved about the dress is that if I stood still, the dress was black. If I walked, the black dress would show the ombre pastel colored layers it hid.

Silena and Katie wore black cocktail dresses. The photographer called for us and we were in another photo shoot. A couple of makeup touch ups and we were ready to go to the venue of the wedding.

Silena, Katie, and I got in a town car provided by the hotel we were checked in. We went to Manhattan Penthouse on Fifth Avenue and we eagerly waited for the bridal car to arrive. Silena, being the wedding planner as well, made her way to the event space to make sure everything is perfect as soon as Thalia steps into the room. Katie went along with Silena in case she needed extra help. I was getting excited as each minute passed. Soon enough, a white town car arrived.

I helped Thalia out of the town car and we held each other at arms length. I was starting to tear up again. I can't believe that this was really happening.

"If you keep crying, I won't get the satisfaction of seeing you cry during the ceremony." She said but I was a hundred percent sure that she was close to tearing up as well.

I fixed her veil and smiled. "Come on." I held on to her hand and started making my way into the building. "We wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

She let out a breathy laugh and tightened her grip on me.

With photographers following us, we walked towards the elevator in our heels which both of us agreed are torture devices. The short elevator ride felt like it could last forever. Thalia and I would shared nervous yet excited glances at each other. Our fingers were interlaced and we exited the elevator as the doors opened on the top floor.

To no surprise, there were photographers taking pictures of us as we walked into the hallway. We passed by a closed door which was where the reception will be held. Silena and Katie along with Zeus stood outside the second door, waiting for us. Since Thalia insisted, Zeus wore a black pinstripe tuxedo instead of his usual dark blue pinstripe suit.

I handed Thalia her bouquet and fixed her dress after she got to her place in the line. When she was ready, we exchanged knowing looks and parted. I stood behind Katie who handed me my bouquet and Silena peeked in the room to signal the pianist that we were ready. When the music started playing, Katie walked into the room to be followed by Silena then me.

As I entered the room, everyone was looking at me. Luke stood at the altar, looking excited at the same emotional. Lined up behind him was his best man, Percy, and his groomsmen, Nico and Grover. They all looked dashing in their all black tuxedo. Percy was looking at me with this adorable proud smile on his face that left me feeling giddy. With slowly paced steps, I made my way up to the altar and positioned myself in front of Katie. I looked at Percy and he simply winked at me.

The pianist started playing Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny and everybody stood up with their backs to the altar. Thalia, accompanied by Zeus, entered the room. I felt the tears starting to form at the rims of my eyes. The father and daughter walked down the aisle steadily. You could see how tight Thalia's grip was on her father's arm.

I looked over to Luke and he already had a handkerchief out to wipe his tears away. Thalia started tearing up. Luke left the altar to greet Thalia and Zeus. Zeus kissed Thalia's cheek and whispered something in her ear. He held her hand and placed it on Luke's extended arm. Zeus and Luke shook hands before the couple walked up to the altar.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan in matrimony." The minister started.

The ceremony was a short one. The minister had a short introduction about marriage followed by the exchange of vows and rings.

Luke placed the ring on Thalia's finger while reciting, "I give you this ring as a reminder that I will love, honor, and cherish you in all times, in all places, and in all ways, forever."

Thalia did the same by placing the ring on Luke's finger and reciting the same statement.

The minister asked Luke. "Do you, Luke Castellan, take Thalia Grace to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." He said with an undeniable smile in his voice.

"Do you, Thalia Grace, take Luke Castellan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." She replied with an excited voice.

"If there is anyone present who objects to this marriage, speak now of forever hold your peace." The minister waited for a several seconds and said. "Seeing that there is none. By the power invested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Luke gingerly but at the same time eagerly lifted Thalia's veil and kissed her. Everybody clapped their hands in celebration and clapped even louder when Luke grabbed Thalia and dipped her.

Once Thalia and Luke walked down the aisle, Percy instantly went over to me.

He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear. "You are stunning, Wise Girl."

I smiled and looked up at him as he pulled away. "So are you, Seaweed Brain."

He held my hand and we went the reception area together. Everything was ready. The bar was ready to serve the guests with cocktails and everybody already knew which table they were seated at. There was a pianist that was playing light music while everybody socialized and one by one slowly approached the bride and groom to congratulate them. Percy and I were talking to some friends and acquaintances.

The bride and groom was seated with their families. There was a separate table for the entourage.

The emcee announced that dinner would be served in a short while and asked if everybody could be seated in their designated tables.

Percy and I sat beside each other and under the table, he placed his hand on top of my thigh. It was something that he would do. It's like an instinct. I looked over to him and smiled. I think it was an expression of "I don't want you to go."

After dinner was served, the program started. Zeus gave a speech about family, how he was losing a daughter but was gaining a son. I was called later on to give my speech. Percy quickly stood up to help me out of my seat and brought me to the stage. He smiled at me before walking back to his seat.

"Good evening, everyone. I don't really know what to say because this is the first time I have ever done this. Thalia is the first one in my group of friends to get married and consequently, this is my first time to be a maid of honor. Thalia, am I doing a good job?" I looked at me and everybody laughed when she gave me a thumbs up.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase and I have known the couple for quite some time now. We go way back, when we were around seven years old. You guys might roll your eyes at me when I say this but I always knew you guys would end up. I know, cliche and I don't do cliche but I couldn't put it any other way.

"Your relationship is one of those that stood the test of time. When Thalia told me that she and Luke were already going out, I wasn't surprised. That was a couple years after we got our first jobs. Sooner or later, she comes to me saying that they were engaged. I remember her telling me how scared she was. This was something none of us has ever gone into. She had this short monologue. She said that yes, she really did love him but the step from being lovers to being engaged was a huge step. She said she could imagine spending the rest of her life with him. This was the start of her monologues. Trust me, Luke, I have witnessed numerous monologues of her pros and cons of being engaged and getting married. Ultimately we all could see where those monologues ended up. Personally, I think those monologues reinforced the love she felt for him because after every mini meltdown, she reassured herself that the leap of faith with you was always going to be worth it. But if you want to rant, you know I'll always be here for you, Thalia.

"Thalia, since you were the first one to cross the bridge of no longer being single legally, tell us how it is, how it works, and if you have any advice, we are more than happy to hear it. Thalia and Luke, if you guys encounter any problem in the whole course of your marriage, don't hesitate to approach us because even if we have no idea how marriage is like, we will try to help. Your relationship is something we all root for. Congratulations, guys, my heart is over the moon for your marriage. May your love inspire others to love as much as you both do. Here's to a happy, smooth sailing, and long lasting marriage. To Thalia and Luke."

I went over to Thalia and Luke to give them hugs and whisper "congratulations" to them. Percy came over and accompanied me back to our table. After my speech the emcee announced the first dance of the bride and groom. I knew Thalia was not the type of person who enjoys dancing but she seemed to be enjoying herself as she and Luke shift from one foot to another. The program continued with the garter removal then the bouquet toss.

When it came to the bouquet toss, the single ladies gathered on the dance floor while Thalia stood in front of us. Trust me, the struggle of staying upright while wearing heels and trying to reach out for the free falling bouquet was indescribable. I was honestly not looking forward to falling flat on the floor with no bouquet in my hand.

Thalia looked so happy and excited as she jokingly made us settle down. She turned her back to us and the only thing on my mind was getting that damned bouquet. I was driven.

"One..." Thalia started counting down and looked at us after every number.

She threw the bouquet and I was looking up to keep my eyes on the bouquet. A couple moments passed before I realized she didn't in fact throw the bouquet. I felt foolish for falling for the fake toss. I looked back at her and saw her walking towards us with the bouquet between her hands. Towards me to be exact. I was dumbfounded. What was happening? She was smiling widely as she placed the bouquet in my hand. The other ladies were standing around us with smiles on their faces.

 _What is happening?_

Thalia made me turn around and I saw Percy down on one knee with an open ring box in his hand.

I couldn't believe what was happening. The music stopped playing and all I heard were gasps and restrained squeals. My hands felt clammy and standing upright seemed like a hard task. I held the bouquet with one hand and brought the other to cover my mouth.

"Annabeth Chase," Percy started, "you have made love so sweet that I could not imagine the rest of my life without it. Loving you was something I have always done from the first moment I met you. I love you so much and I want us to take the same leap of faith. When I think about the future, there was never an instance that you were not beside me. Wise Girl, will you marry me?"

I had a thousand thoughts going through my mind but at the same time, I couldn't think. I wanted to say how much I loved him too but no words came out of my mouth. I wanted to throw my arms around him, kneel down as well, touch his face, kiss him but I was frozen. I looked at his face, scrutinizing each and every detail to make sure I remember this moment. This feeling.

I slowly nodded and next thing I know I was crying. Percy swiftly stood up and held my face. He kissed me with so much passion that I felt lightheaded. He pulled away, looked at me, and laughed. He has tears in his eyes, which he batted away, while he wiped mine away.

"I love you so much, Seaweed Brain." I said.

He kissed me once more then he tried to put the ring on my left ring finger with his trembling hands. He kissed my hand and then my lips again.

"Since you first met me?" I joked.

"You have no idea."


	3. Common Room Buddy

I am tired.

Practice is killing me. I got back to the dorm around ten in the evening with my arms and legs feeling like Jell-O. I immediately fell on my bed and was asleep in a seconds. I didn't even notice if my roommate was there or not.

For the past days, I have been going back to the dorm late and absolutely drained. I swear to the gods, I would be resigning or quitting the varsity soon if this continues. No. I'm kidding. I take that back. The swimming varsity is the reason I'm admitted to Harvard. My SAT scores allowed me to get into Stanford but that was on the other side of the continent so Paul suggested I try getting a varsity scholarship in Harvard, which was nearer to Manhattan compared to Stanford. So as long as I am part of the swimming varsity and my grades are alright, I get to stay in Harvard.

I stirred in my sleep and saw that it was two-thirty in the morning on my alarm clock. I could go back to sleep cause the gods know how exhausted I am. I shifted around the bed and got comfortable. I wondered if I had anything for tomorrow. A quiz. But come on, a quiz can't really be worth more than sleep, right? I suddenly remembered the number of quizzes I failed in that class. I groaned and reluctantly got up. I looked around the room with groggy eyes. My roommate was already asleep and I envied him. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and changed my clothes. I hung my towel and swimming trunks to dry. I got my bag, went through my study desk for any notes I needed to study, and got my mug.

Quietly, I went out of our room, locking the door behind me, and went to the common room. I prefer studying in the common room because if I opted to study in my room, my bed would be tempting me. I was surprised to see that the lights in the common room was still on, which means that someone was still there. I slowly walked to a sofa so I wouldn't disturb whoever was there. I prepared myself a hot cup of coffee to help me stay awake as I study and I settled on the sofa.

I opened my notebook and started scanning through it. I glanced at the person in front of me and I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up.

Her blonde hair was tied up into a messy bun. Her glasses had slid down her nose and she hasn't bothered pushing it back on the bridge of her nose. She wore a loose sweater, leggings, and socks. She sat on the floor and had all her things on the coffee table. The same coffee table I placed my mug on. She had numerous thick books sprawled out on the table and she had one on her lap, which she was reading through. She would repeatedly read the book then clicked on her scientific calculator. It was a couple minutes before she noticed that she wasn't alone.

She looked at me. "Oh, hi."

"Hi." I greeted her back.

She went back to her work and so did I. While studying, I couldn't help but wonder why she looked familiar, aside from seeing her around the dorm. I feel like she was in one of my classes.

We both stayed in the common room until six in the morning. I was fighting the sleep but she looked unfazed. There were already some students who avoided getting violations coming in and some students leaving for their 7AM classes. I looked over to her and she was deep in thought. Her eyebrows were scrunched up as she laid back against the sofa. She stared at her calculator while she tapped her pen against her knee. She looked back at her paper, clicked on her calculator, and finally smiled. She wrote something on her paper and laughed at herself. She was a joy to watch. I don't mean that in a stalker manner.

She gathered up all her things and it looked like she needed some help.

"Do you need some help?" I offered.

"Oh no, thank you. I can handle this." She smiled. She managed to pile up all the books and carry it in one swift motion. She looked at me, "Do _you_ need some help?"

I looked down at my notes reflexively. "I think I'm alright."

She smiled at me. "If you say so. See you around."

I watched her as she left the common room and disappear somewhere down the hall.

"Hey, Percy." Someone called me.

I turned my head to where the voice came from and saw Grover making his way towards me. He was carrying a bowl and spoon. He was probably eating his breakfast. I don't really know what it is but when I tried it once, I swear, it tasted like an aluminum can.

"Why are you up so early?" He sat down on the sofa. "Doesn't your class start at ten?"

"I, uhm..." I trailed off.

He looked over my shoulder and saw what I was studying. "Oh, analytic geometry and calculus. Good thing I don't have to take up that class."

"I have no idea why the biology curriculum has this kind of math." I said, exasperated. "When does a doctor use this anyway? 'You can see from your x-ray results that there's a tumor right there and we can predict how long before it spreads by getting the derivative of this equation.'" I joked.

Grover laughed and continued eating.

Math was never really my strongest subject. I thought that getting into medicine would allow me to avoid it in college but well, here I am, staying up late just to study how to get an area under a curve using derivatives.

I groaned and closed my notes. I think I have reviewed enough. I got all my things and headed back to the room with Grover behind me. I plopped down on my bed and set an alarm an hour before my first class. I closed my eyes and tried to mentally recite what I just studied.

"Perce, wake up." Grover said as he gently shook me.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "What? What is it?"

"Your alarm just went off."

I looked around frantically, obviously disoriented. I felt like I haven't slept, like I just closed my eyes and lied down for a couple hours. What kind of sleep was that?

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my towel. I went to the bathroom and took a shower. I swiftly got ready before I headed out. Walking briskly across the campus because just my luck, my first class happens to be on the other end of the campus. Thank the gods my cardio was okay because of swimming.

I got to my building and saw that there was a piece of paper stuck to the door of our room. Oh gods no. I went over to check what was written because it was five minutes before classes start and I don't see anyone in this class around.

 _No class today._ My professor wrote the date today and signed his name.

Well, that's just great. I stayed up late just to study for a quiz in this class, rushed across the campus only to find out that the class is cancelled.

I ended up getting breakast somewhere in campus rather than going back to the dorm then attended my succeeding classes for the day.

Since it was Friday, my last class for the day was PE. This is, I'd have to say, the best PE I have ever taken up throughout my stay in college. It's called Capture the Flag which is carried out in a section of the forest near campus. We were divided into numerous houses, which were named after Greek gods. Some houses had many members while some had only one. Case in point, I was the only member in the house of Poseidon. The houses are then grouped together to form two groups. Those two groups are given their respective flags. The group has to hide and guard their flag from their opponent. There must only be one guard of the flag and he or she is not allowed to stand within ten yards of the flag. They have to strategize a game plan to get their opponent's flag to win the game. We're given mock weapons and we're not allowed to hurt others. We could capture our opponents and bring them to our base prison.

I got to the gymnasium and got ready for class. I was around thirty minutes early for my PE class so there weren't that much people around yet. I left my things in the locker room and started stretching and doing warm ups outside.

The door opened and footsteps echoed in the empty gym. I turned my head and saw _her_. I knew she was in one of my classes. Her blonde hair curled past her shoulders. She wore a New York Yankees baseball cap, a loose shirt, jeans, and a cardigan. Her bag looked packed and she still carried numerous books and notebooks. She looked like she was mulling over something until she looked over to me and smiled before heading in the locker room.

If she were my classmate in this PE class, how come I don't even remember her name? Maybe we were never on the same team. For sure, with the number of games we've had, I would have already encountered her in the forest.

"Hey." She smiled as she started her warm ups beside me.

It took me a couple seconds to respond. "Hi."

Honestly, after that, it was awkward silence as we continued stretching without saying another word to each other. Soon enough, other classmates and the instructor arrived.

"Okay, head counselors, assemble in front." Chiron started.

Since Nico and Jason are absent, nine of us walked up to Chiron. Even she walked up. Gods, I didn't even know what her cabin was.

"Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Hermes against Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus."

Will Solace was Apollo. Luke Castellan was Hermes.

I was busy trying to remember the cabins the head counselors were under when I noticed that they already grouped together. I ran over to the group that engulfed Luke and Will and she was there.

She was Athena.

She was already in the middle of the circle, telling how she wanted us positioned. She already had a piece of paper and drew our attack and defense.

"Alright, prep time is done." Chiron announced. "Everybody out to the forest."

We all vacated the gymnasium and spread across the forest. I was put on border patrol by the river. A couple minutes later, we heard a blow horn that signifies the start of the game. It was really uneventful by the river. You just hear some rustling and footsteps. I started to roam around the perimeter and soon enough, some students noticed me and when they did, they would immediately run away. I honestly have no idea why. Am I that intimidating?

I went back to the river and thought that this was probably the most boring Capture the Flag game ever.

 _Wait, what's that?_

I peered into the bushes and saw a tall figure slowly approaching. I readied my sword and raised my shield.

"Look what we have here."

Her tall, broad, and muscular body became more visible as Clarisse La Rue came into sight. She held her shield and spear firmly and she smirked at me.

"They all said you were positioned by the river."

"Uhm, hi, Clarisse." I said.

"Why don't we pick up where we left off last week?"

Last week wasn't a fun game for Clarisse and that was because of me. She was on her way to the river, carrying our group's flag and almost claiming the victory. I attacked her, managed to get our flag back, and also might have left her drenching wet.

"You know I didn't mean to get you all soaked last week." I started.

"'You know I didn't mean to.'" She mocked me. "Yeah, right, Jackson."

She struck me with her spear, which I thankfully deflected with my shield. It seemed to make her angrier. I rolled out of her way and quickly got back to my feet. She struck again, much quicker and more forceful. I raised my sword to intercept her attack. I saw her grip tighten. Unless I do something, she's going to get her revenge on me. I moved away from her moments before she ran towards me. She growled as she raise her spear once again. I sidestepped before hitting her back with the hilt of my sword. She almost fell forward. I heard her grunt as she turned aroun to give me the nastiest look I have ever seen on her face. I moved away from her again and luckily I managed to move far enough only to feel the tip of her spear make a faint line across my chest. I raised my shield to block her incoming attack but faint shouts caught my attention. The shouts became louder as the people approaced us.

I looked around and saw Luke carrying the opponent's flag. Clarisse turned red, threw her spear to the ground in frustration, and walked away. The Athena house counselor, who I'll be calling Wise Girl for obvious reasons, was standing behind Luke with a victorious smile across her face. I was elated to have found out that we won. I raised my sword and cheered along with them.

Chiron appeared out of nowhere and announced, "This week's winner are Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Hermes. Congratulations."

We went back to the gymnasium and returned our weapons. Since we were dismissed, some already left, some were heading to the locker room to get their things, and some were inviting others out to dinner.

"Let's have dinner." Luke said as he placed his arm on my shoulders. "To celebrate the victory thanks to this amazing teammate." He said as he did the same to Wise Girl.

"It was really obvious that Clarisse would want revenge and personally go after Percy." _She knows my name._ Wise Girl explained. "Having the strongest player leave the flag to go after Percy, who is stationed far from the opponent's base, rendered the flag open for us. Easy."

"So, dinner?" Luke asked. "What do you guys say?"

"I'd love to but I still have swimming practice after this." I said.

"Well, your Friday night is no fun." He chided.

"Believe me, it's been years since I wanted to have a Friday night all to myself."

"Chiron placed you in the right house." He turned to Wise Girl. "What about you?"

"I have to study tonight." She said.

"What? You have an exam on Saturday?"

"No, I just have to study."

"You're spending a _Friday night_ to study?" Luke looked at her in disbelief. "Well, you're no fun." He joked.

Luke patted us on the back before leaving us with a "see you around". I was alone with her. I mustered up all my courage and leftover adrenaline from earlier.

"Didn't you study late last night?" I asked.

She smiled at me, "Last night is different from tonight. I have to constantly study so I'd be on top of my school work."

"I guess I won't argue with that." I smiled back.

She waved goodbye before heading into the girls' locker room. I rushed over to the swimming pool to see if my teammates were already there. I saw one of them leaving the pool area.

"Hey." I called out. "Is Coach there already?"

"Coach isn't here. No practice tonight."

"What? Are you sure?"

"You can check if you want but no one is in there."

I opened the door just a bit to peek and he was right. No one was there and the pool was already drained.

"Better take a break, captain. You've been training tirelessly. We don't have any upcoming major competions until next year."

"I-alright. Thanks, man." I clapped him on the back and went back to the locker room. More like, ran back to the locker room, hoping that maybe Wise Girl would still be there.

I got back and saw her on her way out. I wanted to get her attention but I don't recall her name.

"Hey, Wise Girl!"

Her head whipped at my direction and her stormy grey eyes looked at me with such disdain that it made me regret ever being born.

" _What_ did you call me?"

"W-Wise Girl." I stuttered.

"Assuming you based my nickname on Chiron's cabin designation, perhaps Kelp Head is fitting to be your nickname." Her eyebrows scrunched up. "No. Seaweed Brain. Better." She smiled to herself.

I was about to protest but Seaweed Brain _was_ better than Kelp Head.

"What is it, Seaweed Brain?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I was wondering if you could wait for me cause I'm on my way back to our dormitory as well." I mumbled.

She looked surprised but smiled. "Well, better hurry up, Seaweed Brain. I don't have all night."

I smiled back at her and got my things from the locker room.

"Do you need help? I could carry those books for you." I offered as we left the gymnasium.

"I'm alright, Seaweed Brain, but thank you." She smiled.

I tried my luck with small talk. "So what will you be studying tonight, Wise Girl?"

"Aside from going over everything, I'll be focusing on Strength of Materials and Mathematical Methods in Engineering. I have quizzes in those subjects next week." She looked over to me. "I thought you have swimming practice tonight?"

"Coach cancelled our practice."

"Are the swimming practices on a daily basis?"

"Yeah. I have to attend those aside from doing morning runs."

"Well, aren't you in good shape?"

I chuckled, "I have to be."

I looked at Wise Girl and her cheeks had a rosy hue because of the cold autumn air. She was hugging her books, smiling at me. I felt warm to my stomach. Her eyes looked past me for a moment then looked back at me.

"Want to have dinner? I'm famished."

"What about having to study?" I joked.

"We'll probably take only a couple minutes."

I turned around and looked for what she saw. HLS pub illuminated the already dark sky. It _does_ look inviting.

"What do you say?" She asked.

"Well, let's go." I said.

We went to the pub and got settled. I saw some of the swimming varsity members there and some classmates. I never thought I'd be having dinner with Wise Girl. She placed her books on the table and tried to fix her hair by tucking it behind her ear.

"Have you tried this place?" I asked her.

"It's my first time actually." She looked around, examining the place. "I'm either at the dorm or at Lamont."

"Lamont? The cafe in the library? Yeah, seems like your scene."

"Excuse me?" She looked at me, amused. "What _exactly_ is my scene?"

"Uhm, libraries. You know what I mean! I mean, can you imagine _me_ in a library?"

Her expression softened. "Of course, Seaweed Brain. Can you imagine yourself in a library?"

"No, not really."

She laughed. "No, really. Lamont is great as well, in case you find yourself anywhere near the library."

We talked about our backgrounds as we ate our dinner. It turns out that Wise Girl is from San Francisco City, which means she only gets to go home a couple times a year. Her mother left her when she young. Her dad, who is an American history teacher in a high school, remarried and she has twin half-brothers, Matt and Bobby. She's taking up civil engineering and she's part of Harvard College Debating Union.

"Isn't it weird that we both have parents who left us?" I said as I finished my dish.

"Weirdly both have names of Greek gods." She laughed.

"Our special Friday Pub Trivia night will be starting in a few minutes." Somebody announced.

I looked up at her and saw her eyes lit up. "Want to join?" She asked a little too quickly.

"I thought you were going to study for tonight?"

Her face fell for a second before she said. "Yeah, you're right."

"Or we could stay for one round of their trivia night." I suggested.

She had a small smile on her face and agreed with me. We paid for our dinner and signed up for the trivia night. As much as we wanted to be creative with our team name, we aren't as close with one another and we ended up with "Capture the Flag". It was the best thing we've got. I came back to our table with two bottles of beer.

"I didn't know what you wanted so I got you the same as mine." I said as I placed a bottle in front of her.

She looked hesitant before taking a sip.

"Oh, you don't like this?"

"It's just that..." She trailed off. "I don't drink."

"Oh." I did not think about the possibility of her not drinking. "Well, two for me then."

"It's fine. I can drink this." She gave me a sheepish smile. "I quite like the taste."

"Good evening, everyone!" Someone announced in front. "I hope all of you already signed up because Trivia Night begins. Tonight's theme is - can we get a drum roll? - GREEK MYTHOLOGY!"

She looked at me with the most confident smile I have seen. "This is amazing! I used to read these books about Greek Mythology when I was younger. Thank you, Rick Riordan!"

Trivia Night was amazing. We just answered questions correctly after the other. Well, she did all the answering. We were a couple bottles of beer and a couple rounds into the night when the top teams were announced.

"We have the teams Capture the Flag, Olympians, and Kronos as the top three. Only those teams can answer the last question. The team that answers it wins!"

Wise Girl looked so determined with her cheeks rosy because of the alcohol. "We're going to win this, Seaweed Brain."

"Alright. What caused the rivalry between Athena and Poseidon?"

Before I could look at Wise Girl, she was already writing down on the small white board provided by the pub. Her eyebrows were knitted and even before the quiz master can finish his count down, Wise Girl put down the white board and gave me a smug smile.

"We got this."

Needless to say, we did win. Who knew that Poseidon and Athena fought over Athens? We both won gift certificates and a small trophy.

We left the pub absolutely ecstatic. Wise Girl could not stop laughing and cheering as we walked back to our dormitory. Even though the cold air felt like it was stinging my exposed skin, I could just stay out here with Wise Girl. We got back to our dorm, much to my dismay, and we were about to part as we got to the common room.

"I had a great night." She smiled at me.

"I had fun as well."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, good night."

"Wait, let me bring you to your door." I insisted.

She laughed. "Alright. Aren't you a gentleman?"

"I try."

We walked through the halls of the ladies wing in silence as she fumbled our small trophy from one hand to the other. It sucked how I couldn't think of anything to talk about after spending the night together.

"This is me." She said as we stopped in front of a door. She went through her bag to find her keys and once she did she loooked at me. "Thank you for tonight."

"Just thought that maybe you needed to destress." I smiled. "You're welcome."

She went in her room and I unwillingly walked back to mine. Since it was already late at night, I was more than happy to just lie down on my bed and sleep peacefully until tomorrow afternoon. As I neared our door, I noticed something was hanging on our knob. Oh no. Not now. Not when I'm exhausted. Yep, it was a sock. Great, where am I going to go to now?

I trudged back to the common room and looked for whichever was the comfiest couch. Once I did, I used my bag as a pillow and tried to make myself comfortable.

"Hey."

I looked up and saw Wise Girl in the same sweater, shorts, and socks. She was carrying some books, papers, pencil, and her scientific calculator.

"Don't you think wearing shorts with the seater kind of goes against keeping you warm?" I joked.

"Ha-ha." She said mockingly. "I'm not as cold thanks to the alcohol we consumed."

"If you say so." I sat up.

"Why are you here anyway?" She asked as she placed all her things on the coffee table.

"My roommate has company."

"Ohh, bummer."

"So you really are going to study on a Friday night, even after we drank."

"Well, I couldn't sleep. I thought maybe I should study."

I laughed. "Yeah, cause studying is what people do when they can't sleep."

"Shut up." She sat down on the floor beside my legs.

"Do you want me to make you coffee or hot milk?" I offered.

"Hmm, hot chocolate works."

"That wasn't in the choices."

"I have some in my room." She got up. "Want some?"

"Yes please. A warm chocolate hug would be nice."

She chuckled and disappeared in the hall to the women's wing. I got up and heated up some water for us. I was readying our cups when Wise Girl came back.

"I got you some pillows and a blanket."

"You didn't have to."

"You know, just in case your backpack and jacket aren't enough." She smiled at me.

I thanked her as we prepared our hot beverages. We went back to our place and got comfortable. She opened her books and started reading. I looked over her shoulder and saw nothing but equations and solutions.

"I'm not in the right mindset for this." She said as she closed her books.

"I was quite amazed to see you try though." I laughed.

She got her mug and held it with both hands. She sipped a bit and looked up at me.

"Want to watch TV?" I offered.

"Yes please."

She transferred on the couch as we looked for something good to watch. We ended up watching a couple movies before I started to doze off.

I woke up still feeling tired and rather uncomfortable with how I was lying down. I squinted my eyes, looked for signs that would tell me what time it was, and it was probably early morning, around 7 or 8. I closed my eyes again. For a weekend in a university, waking up at those hours is quite early. Around this time, people would still be asleep. Why in the gods names am I uncomfortable? I do remember choosing the most comfortable couch in the common room. I opened my eyes and realized that I was sharing my couch with someone. How did I not notice that hair was in my face when I woke up?

I also remember staying up late with Wise Girl but I don't remember lying down beside her. I slowly tried to sit up, hoping I wouldn't disturb her. I stealthily got up from the couch and tucked her back in. I looked at her sleeping soundly. I turned to the coffee table and tried to tidy up her things.

 _Annabeth Chase._

So that's her name! I chuckled to myself. I finally know her name but no way am I calling her by her real name when we already established nicknames for one another.

"You don't have to." Someone said weakly.

I turned around and saw Annabeth looking...more like squinting at me. "Oh you're up."

She smiled groggily at me. "Good morning."

I chuckled to myself and greeted her back. She closed ber eyes, rolled over, and stretched. She sat up a couple moments later and yawned.

"Any idea how we ended up sleeping beside each other?" I asked.

She avoided my eyes as her cheeks turned red. "The shorts backfired. You didn't seem to mind last night."

My cheeks got warmer this time. "Really?"

She looked directly at me. "Yeah, you stretched out your arms and even made me use your arm as my pillow."

A smile started to spread across my face and we started laughing.

"Well, looks like we're past the awkward stage of this relationship." She said.

"Definitely past it." I agreed.

We stayed in the common room for a bit longer before I walked her back to her room, carrying her pillow and blanket. I went to my room with my fingers crossed.

Ah! Thank the gods the sock is gone.

Grover was still asleep. I lied down on my bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. I couldn't get the smile off my face. My phone started to buzz telling me that it was time for my morning run.

I neared the common room and heard familiar clicking. A smile slowly spread across my face. Someone with their back facing me was sitting on the floor and occupied a whole coffee table.

"Hey." I greeted her.

She turned around, holding her scientific calculator, and had the most charming smile on her face. "Good morning!"

"Don't you think it's quite early to be studying?" I joked.

"I didn't get to study last night." She looked at me. "You're going out for your morning run?"

"Yep. Do you want anything?" I offered. "Coffee?"

She flashed me another charming smile. "Please?"

I headed out after making her coffee. I finished my run earlier than usual, maybe because I was excited to go back to the dorm. As I walked back, I noticed an open restaurant and decided to buy some breakfast. I got some to go for Annabeth because I assumed that she would still be busy studying when I return. No surprise when I still heard the clicks on the scientific calculator when I entered the dormitory.

"Still not yet done studying?" I asked as I neared Annabeth.

"Shut up." She said without looking at me.

"I got you breakfast."

Annabeth placed her calculator down, got up, and walked towards me. "You know you didn't have to."

I smiled. "But I wanted to."

She tiptoed and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. And please take a shower."

We had this flirty relationship for a couple weeks. We always stayed at the common room because she refused to break the rule of having guests of the opposite gender in our rooms. It felt like our room was the common room. Almost every night, we would stay at the common room until we'd fall asleep there. I was torn between being happy about it or not because I was kind of hoping we'd take things to the next level. I couldn't really have a serious talk with her because with the semester ending, everyone was rushing requirements and chasing deadlines. I couldn't speak to Wise Girl for too long because she had a lot of exams, papers, and projects. Aside from her academics, her debate organization required her presence during training. I had my academics as well and my varsity training also made the remaining weeks hectic for me.

I was tired from swimming practice when I entered the dormitory. There was no one in sight. People must be studying in their respective rooms. There was no calculator clicking, which was weird since Annabeth was always in the common room. Maybe she was in her debate training. Since she wasn't there, I didn't bother checking the common room and went straight to my room.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." Someone said as I was about to head to the men's wing.

I turned around and saw Annabeth sitting on our favorite couch. She was hugging her knees and it looked like she was thinking about something.

"Oh hey." I smiled. "I didn't think you were there."

I went over and sat down beside her. "You don't have any requirements or exams coming up?"

"Nope. I'm done with the semester."

I was amazed because as early as now, she was already done. I still have finals week to crawl through. "How come you look like you have a problem?"

"I was just thinking about something." She looked up at me. "About us, actually."

I started to get nervous. "Oh? What about us?"

She was about to say something when a group of people walked in the common room. Some of them took a seat and some went to get some food. Annabeth looked like she couldn't say what she meant to say.

"Follow me." I said and brought us to the small supply closet.

The supply closet was small. We didn't bother turning on the lights. It was quiet inside and I could hear my own nervous heartbeat.

"Hi." She whispered.

"Hi." I whispered back.

I felt her hands on my chest.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked.

"No, nothing's wrong." She whispered weakly.

I felt her hands grip my shirt as she brought me to her lips. I was quite amazed with how fast her eyes adjusted to the dark because frankly everything was still black to me.

Her puckered lips were soft against mine. I was surprised but I started to respond after a few moments. I placed my hands on her hips and gently kissed her back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and started to kiss me with much gusto.

"Ooh, cold." She smiled when my cold fingers accidentally touched her bare skin since her sweater moved, exposing her skin.

I smiled and moved my fingers just a bit higher to tease her. She laughed and went back to kissing me.


	4. Destined at Dawn

I looked around the laboratory and saw that the remaining people were asleep on their desks. It was almost five in the morning and my paper was nowhere near done. I could feel myself getting sleepy but that is not an option for me. Maybe I should walk around to get rid of the sleepiness. I got my phone and wallet. I could visit the other teams.

Our laboratory is divided into numerous teams depending on our study, specifically which river system we were focusing on. The teams then have their respective laboratories whether in Building 10, fifth floor of Building 9, or sixth floor of Building 9. There are five teams under the Hydraulics Laboratory: Cocytus, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon, and Styx. Acheron team was on the sixth floor, Cocytus team was on the fifth floor, and the remaining teams are in Building 10.

I went up to the fifth floor of Building 9 to check whether Thalia was there. If not, I could go to the sixth floor for Nico. Using my key card, I entered Building 9 and went up. The light was illuminating from the glass of the metal door, which meant that someone was in the lab. I opened the door and saw a girl standing in front of the window quickly turn around.

"I don't think you can see that much outside when it's still dark." I joked.

She smiled and trudged back to her desk, "I am tired. I can't figure out what to do anymore. I checked my computation numerous times already. Can you check it for me?"

I sat down beside her and looked at her notes. "You were using a different density of water right here." I showed her.

She laughed. "I've been using two different densities throughout my computations. Oh gods."

She redid her computations and smiled. "Thank you so much, Annabeth. So, how's first floor?"

"I'm the only one who's awake."

"Maybe it's a sign that you should go home and take a rest."

"I'm not yet done with my paper."

"Annabeth, you haven't gone home for how many days now. Thank the gods for the showers here."

I laughed. "Shut up. I'll just go over my paper again and call it a night."

"Alright. Thank you. I wouldn't feel bad about leaving you and going home." She started fixing her table but suddenly looked at me. "You _promise_ to go home alright."

"Yes, yes, I promise."

She squinted at me, wore her coat, and got her bag. At the entrance of Building 8, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. While on my way back to my laboratory in Building 10, the surroundings made me stop and admire everything. The lamps had a warm yellow light. As a gentle breeze passed by, the trees swayed slightly and so did its shadow against the brick road. There were numerous bicycles parked by the buildings and there were benches lined in the middle, underneath the trees. Some windows illuminated the dark sky. A gust of wind made me shiver involuntarily so I wrapped my cardigan tighter around me. Since it's December, the air was probably four degrees Celsius.

I hurriedly went back to Building 10's laboratory and as I opened the door, I saw someone making coffee.

"Oh, hello." I greeted him.

He turned around and smiled. "Should I make coffee for two?"

I smiled back. "Please and thank you."

I sat down on the common table and waited for the coffee. He placed the jar of sugar and carton of half and half in the middle of us as he sat down in front of me.

"I don't know if this will come across as rude," he started, "but why are you still here?"

I groaned and rest my head on my palms. "I'm not yet done with my paper and Chiron wants me to pass it for a conference. What about you?"

"I wanted to get away from my lab. I thought maybe a change of surroundings would inspire me. I also thought that Grover would be awake."

"And you're still in your lab because...?"

"I'm also writing a paper."

I smiled and nodded at him.

Percy is also a master's student in the Olympus Metropolitan University. While everyone in the Hydraulics Laboratory are civil engineers, Percy is a marine biologist. He's from the Marine Biology Laboratory in Building 8 but since he's best friends with Grover, he also spends time in the Hydraulics Laboratory. He used to be Grover's tag-along but now, everybody in the laboratory is friends with him. Even Chiron enjoys his presence in the lab.

Once the coffee was ready, Percy stood up, got mugs from the shelf, and filled it up with coffee.

"You remembered which one my cup is." I noted.

"And I remember you like your coffee black." He said as he placed my mug in front of me.

We sat in silence for a while. Soft snores of some laboratory members and the soft hum of the heater was all I heard. I looked out the window and saw the sky starting to take on a light blue hue. I thought about having to continue writing my paper and groaned.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Percy offered.

I smiled at him. "Wait, just let me finish my coffee."

"You can bring it, if you want." He stood up. "I'm bringing mine."

We left the laboratory and walked towards where the sun was shining from. It felt nice. The air was cool. The sky was different shades of blue and a tinge of orange and yellow as it got nearer to the shining sun. It was as if there were layers of color in the sky; from dark to light blue to orange to yellow. My cup of coffee was warm in between my hands. There was no one around except the both of us.

I looked at Percy and I can tell from his face that he was enjoying our little walk as well. We settled on a bench and faced the direction where the sun was rising.

"I missed this." I said as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"You'll have to be a little bit specific. Dawn? Being alone? Free time?"

I smiled and looked at him. "Everything."

He smiled back at me.

"It's been a while since I have been outside during dawn. I have been cooped up in the laboratory for days. I would go out the laboratory for a break, only to find out it's night again."

"Are you telling me that you haven't seen sunlight for days?"

I nodded at him and let out a defeated groan.

"Are you sure what Chiron is making you do is legal?" He joked. "Well, if what you're telling me is true, bask in the sun for as long as you want. Bask away, sunfish!"

I laughed but closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It felt good to feel the warmth of the sunlight against my face.

"Wait, did you just call me a sunfish?"

"Yeah. You know that big but laterally flat fish? They float on their sides up on the surface so that the sunlight can warm them up."

I gently nodded and continued to relish the sun. I opened my eyes and looked at how the sun beautifully lit each surface. I glanced at Percy and he looked amused with how I was enjoying being out of the lab.

"Sunfish are usually found alone." He said matter-of-factly.

"Well, if I keep this up, maybe I _will_ end up alone." I laughed weakly.

His face softened. "That makes the both of us."

"I'll keep that in mind." I winked at him jokingly.

We stayed out there for a while but I started to get cold. Percy must have noticed because he already offered to go back to the laboratory. As we walked back, I wished I had longer legs because the cold air was biting my skin despite the fact that my cardigan was wrapped tightly around me. I may have underestimated the cold weather. I felt something draped over my shoulders and I glanced at Percy, who was now only wearing his sweatshirt.

"Oh, no, it's okay." I said. "You can wear your coat. I'm fine."

"Don't worry. I'm used to this." He smiled. "I would walk home from school in the cold weather like this and I would be fresh from swimming training. So, I'm more than used to walking around in cold temperatures."

I smiled back at him and rubbed my arms, in an attempt to warm up faster. "Thank you."

Percy was still looking at me and placed his arm over my shoulders to pull me closer to him. He rubbed my arm as well. He muttered something about sharing body heat. I nodded and accepted his reasoning. We continued walking towards the lab in silence. Once we arrived in the lab, we rushed inside, laughing because we both tried to get through the door at the same time. We got stuck for a moment before we got in the building. We went up the stairs, still chuckling to ourselves, and went in the laboratory.

"Good morning to the both of you." Somebody greeted us.

Grover looked at us with the widest smile on his face.

"Well, aren't you in a good mood this morning?" Percy greeted back as he got our mugs and washed it.

I sat down on the common table and watched Grover make his own cup of coffee.

"Are you going to tell us why you are so happy?" I asked.

"My results are in. I only briefly went over it and it looks like it coincides with literature." He did a little dance.

"Wow, congratulations!" I said.

"That's amazing, man." Percy said as he dried his hands.

I hung my head because I was far from where Grover is with his research. Percy sat down beside me and comfortingly patted my back. I smiled weakly at him, taking a deep breath through my nose. After a while, everybody went back to work. Percy opened up his laptop and became engrossed with what he was doing. Excited clicks came from Grover's keyboard as he typed about his results. I went back to my desk and continued to make something out of my results. I reviewed everything again, all my data, all my assumptions. Everything.

One by one, my laboratory members woke up and continued their researches. Luke was downstairs, resuming his lab tests on some samples. Malcolm was making a presentation since he would be presenting in one of Chiron's class today. Connor was coding a program to analyze his data. Travis was writing a paper to be submitted in the same conference where my paper was to be pass as well.

 _There has something to be wrong in my simulation. Maybe the input data._

My heart started racing when I noticed a possible mistake. I concealed a squeal because I finally found a possible source of error. I quickly fixed one of the input files and ran my calculation cases. Since a calculation case would take days or even weeks to finish and my paper was only missing the discussion of the results, I decided to head home after spending days in the laboratory.

"I'm heading home." I announced to the laboratory.

They cheered and I heard some of them say "finally". I laughed and looked around. Percy wasn't there. He must have left when I was busy editing my data. I happily packed up my things and took one last look at the PCs. I made my way down and was about to exit the building.

"I hope you're going home." Luke called.

"I am!" I said as I made my way to where he was.

Luke was using a particle size analyzer to examine one of his soil samples. He had his cup of coffee and some snacks with him. He would usually take the whole day to analyze his samples because Chiron gave him so much. Around 50, I think. A space heater was faced towards him since there was no heating in the first floor of the building.

"How are you down here?" I leaned against the table.

"Pretty uneventful." He said as he noted down the results of his test.

"Do you need help?"

"Nah, if I finish fast, Chiron might give me more samples to examine."

I laughed and bid him goodbye. I left the building and decided to pass through Buildings 9 and 8 to avoid the cold weather. When I was about to exit, someone called me. I turned around and saw Percy all bundled up.

"Hi." I laughed as I saw the numerous layers he had put on. "I thought you were used to the cold weather?"

"I'm putting these on in case you get cold." He smiled at me.

We exited the building and started walking home.

"Oh really? Let me see those layers." I teased.

Talking as if he was a salesperson, he showed me. "First we have a wool coat. A wool coat? Yes, a wool coat. Then we have a blue down vest. Blue makes the other colors pop. Underneath that, we have a sweatshirt. Also blue cause I love blue. Lastly, we have a white shirt. But wait, there's more! We will throw in a scarf, a beanie, and gloves if you say you are cold now. Yes, right now!"

I laughed. "Very very convincing. I think I'll take the shirt."

Percy laughed and gave me a scarf for a consolation.

"So, are you done with your paper?" I asked him as I wrapped his scarf around my neck.

"No. Far from it. I have to go over tons of data files. If only there was a way to compile the data the way I need it." He sounded frustrated.

"Hmm, maybe I can help? Let me check your data files. Maybe I can program a code to compile your data in the way you want them to be compiled."

"Oh no, it's too much of a hassle for you."

"Really, it would probably take me only a couple minutes." I looked at him and I saw that he was about to protest to me helping him. "I insist."

"Alright. Thank you. How about you? How's your paper so far? I saw you celebrating something a while ago."

"Oh gods, you saw that?" I was a bit embarrassed. "I noticed a possible source of error. I'm running my calculation cases again."

"Do you have a deadline for your paper?"

"Chiron wants it before we go to River Styx for fieldwork."

"That's around three weeks from now. Can you still make it?"

I gave him the meanest stink eye I can make. "You underestimate me. You make me think twice about helping you."

He put his hands up. "Okay okay. No more talking about your paper."

We continued to talk and as we reached my apartment, I invited him in so I could check his data. I made him sit on the sofa. I offered him some coffee or tea as he turned on his laptop and waited for it to warm up.

"Can I have some hot milk? I think I've had too much caffeine and I wanted to sleep as I got home."

Since his idea seemed like a good one, I prepared two cups of hot milk. I placed our mugs on the coffee table and I sat down on the floor. I waited for him to hand me over his laptop.

"Here. I've been trying to compile it manually but it takes such a long time."

I quickly looked at his files and asked him to describe in detail what he wants to obtain. Soon enough I started coding, drinking my hot milk in between. It was quiet except for the heater's thrum. After a couple tries, I finally got it. I was about to show Percy so he could double check the results.

Percy was slumped over on the sofa. He had a peaceful look on his face while he still held the mug. Smiling to myself, I turned off his laptop, put it aside, and slowly got up. I got the cup and gently made him lie down on the sofa. Feeling tired myself, I washed our mugs, got a blanket for Percy, and went to bed.

When I woke up, the room was dark. It was either night or early morning. Although reluctant to go back to the laboratory, I got up and started to get ready. I walked out of my room and trudged to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I assumed that Percy might have woken up when I was still asleep and simply slipped away but when I got to the kitchen, I heard soft snores. Tiptoeing to the sofa, I saw Percy still fast asleep. I was about to go my way when something made me give him a second look; Percy was drooling in his sleep. Laughing to myself, I realized that he would eventually drool on my sofa if I didn't intervene. I rushed to get a paper towel from the kitchen, went back to wipe his face, and also move his head to avoid having him drool again. As I was moving his head, Percy groggily opened his eyes and peeped at me. I immediately let go of his head, shocked.

"Hi." I said, almost inaudibly.

Percy's eyes widened and he swiftly sat up. "Oh gods." He kept repeating to himself.

"From joking about being sunfishes to having you stay over, who knew?" I joked.

He sheepishly looked back at me and laughed weakly. "I'm sorry. I should get going, I think I've overstayed."

I looked at the clock and found out that it was already five in the morning. "You can stay. I'll make coffee." Before he could say another word, I insisted. "It's okay."

I went to the kitchen and made coffee for the both of us. I sat down on the dining table and Percy looked at me. It was quiet for a couple seconds before we started laughing.

"You drool in your sleep." I said nonchalantly, making him hang his head.

He went over to the dining table and sat down beside me. As we drank our coffee, I saw the same beautiful shades of the sky and Percy noticed me looking out the window with glazed eyes. He asked if my apartment had a fire exit and once I said yes, he got up and invited me to stay there as we drank our coffee. I went out and immediately regretted it because wearing sleepwear outside in zero to four degrees Celsius temperatures was a terrible idea. Percy must have seen the face I made because he gave me his coffee mug and ran back inside the apartment. A few moments later, he came back out with the blanket I gave him earlier. He climbed out the window, opened the blanket, and draped it over our shoulders.

We sat out on the fire exit, drinking our coffee and staring at the sky as dawn set it. It was blissful if you asked me. I could have stayed there forever. As if the gods were against me, my phone alarm went off causing both of us to jump up in surprise. I went back in to turn it off and saw Percy go back in as well.

"I should get going." Percy laughed.

He washed our mugs, packed up, and left. I looked around my now empty apartment and sighed. I started to get ready: took a shower, brushed my teeth, done my skin care routine, and got dressed. I checked today's weather so I can choose my coat accordingly. When I saw it would be colder than usual, I got a beanie and scarf while choosing a thicker coat. Once I got out, I immediately put my hands in my coat's pockets. Cold is an understatement.

I walked briskly to the laboratory, stopping by the bakery near the entrance of Olympus Metropolitan University. I bought two slices of my favorite bread for my breakfast. Continuing to scurry to the laboratory, I arrived there only to see that everyone was still fast asleep. I went to my desk and instantly checked my computer; the calculation cases were still running, which was a good sign. I removed my outerwear and got comfortable.

Since my paper only lacked the results, I practically just had to wait for the computer to finish calculating my simulation. I proofread my paper once more and decided to add more in my review of related literature. It felt great to be not as stressed as I was for the past days. I spent the whole day casually adding to my paper, checking my calculation cases, and offering help to my other laboratory members. Sometimes, I would go up to the fifth and sixth floor of Building 9 to check up on Thalia and Nico.

Just as I was coming back from my visit to the fifth floor, I bumped into Percy, who was on his way to the laboratory as well. I simply carried my phone and had my coat on while Percy looked like he was ready to go home.

"How's the code so far?" I asked as we went up the stairs to the laboratory.

"It's flawless." He gave me a toothy grin. "I'm already writing about my results."

"That's good!" I looked at him. "I expect to be mentioned in the acknowledgments." I joked.

We laughed and as we entered the laboratory, we separated. He went to the common table and I went to my desk. A few hours later, Nico came to the lab and along with Luke, Connor, Travis, Grover, and Percy, they were glued to their cellphones. I rolled my eyes because they were playing some mobile game.

"Annabeth." Someone called me in a singsong tone.

I removed my earphones and looked at who was at the door. I saw Thalia all bundled up. She looked at me with her eyebrows raised as if she was waiting for me. I looked back at her with the same expression. Thalia sighed and made her way to me.

"It's a Thursday." She looked at me expectantly.

This meant that Thalia and I have our weekly dinner. Ever since Thalia and I started our graduate studies in the university, we promised to have dinner together every Thursday. There are some Thursdays that we don't get to have dinner together because one of us is in a conference or off somewhere doing field work.

I scrambled to get my phone and wallet after I wore all my outerwear. Thalia raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're going back here after dinner?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I said as I fixed my hair under my beanie. "I have to check my calculation case before I go home. It might encounter an error while I'm asleep so that's time wasted."

"Alright, alright. If you say so." She shrugged.

We bid our goodbyes to the guys and left the campus. Just outside the campus, there is this Indian restaurant that Thalia and I absolutely loved. I ordered beef curry and butter chicken, which came with rice, barbecue chicken, and unlimited naan. I couldn't sit still in my seat because I was very excited for my dinner. As we waited for our names to be called, we talked about our papers.

"Are you writing your results already?" I asked Thalia.

She looked at me with the widest and proudest smile. "Yes. I'm still thankful for pointing out my mistake."

I smiled back at her. "Welcome. So, how's the results?"

"So far, so good. My results are aligning with literature."

I fell quiet for a moment, thinking about research.

"I think you're at wits end." Thalia noted.

I sighed. "I only have three weeks and I still don't have my results. Once I get my results, I have to calibrate my model and run it all over again."

"I know you can still write an impeccable paper." She gave me a reassuring smile. "It's typical of you."

I smiled weakly and mouthed "thank you". I rest my head on the palms of my hand. I am tired. _I am tired._

Thalia got called first so she got up and got her order. My order was up a few moments later. With a delighted shiver, I got my order. As I sat down, Thalia had an impish look.

"What?" I said as I chewed on my naan while she still looked at me with that mischievous grin.

She slowly picked up her bread without breaking eye contact with me. "So, what have you done to or with my cousin?"

What she said made me stop chewing. "What was that?"

She repeated and added. "Percy wouldn't stop talking about you."

"I don't think I follow." I said.

"Percy was in the lab for the whole day and the only thing that would come out of his mouth was Annabeth this, Annabeth that."

"Oh gods." I said almost inaudibly.

"Yeah." She nodded slowly. "Ask the others! But he kept the seat next to my desk warm, just talking about you."

I stared at Thalia and I started laughing, causing her to laugh as well. "Oh gods, what has he been saying?"

"How the code you made for him was perfect, how he's spending so much time with you, how he has visited your apartment, and you know, things like that."

"Oh gods, I would have loved to hear that!" I laughed.

"Honestly, this is the first time I saw him like this."

"You said he was there the whole day. How come I didn't see him when I went over?"

"He actually went out to use the comfort room and he didn't go back in when he heard you inside."

I laughed loudly. "Oh gods, but why?"

"I have no idea. People do stupid things when they're in love." Thalia looked at me with wide eyes.

I felt myself nervously swallow.

"I'm kidding." She laughed.

"But...did he really talk about me to you?" I asked once we quieted down.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Gods, this is so high school."

We continued eating, talking about different things with Percy excluded. When we finished, we went our separate ways. Thalia headed home while I passed by a local coffee shop before bustling back to the laboratory. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to still be in the laboratory. Some of the guys were already writing about their results like Thalia while some weren't making papers to pass for a conference.

I unlocked the door of Building 10 and was surprised to see that the light in the laboratory was on. With scrunched up eyebrows, I locked the door and went up the stairs. Only one person was in the lab and his head whipped at me as I went in.

"Oh! I didn't know you'd still be here." I smiled at Percy.

"I just thought that you'd want someone to be here when you come back." He smiled back.

"I appreciate it."

I went over to my desk and checked my PCs. Everything still looks okay. Since I was satisfied with the other parts of my paper, I thought of maybe calling it a night. Thank the gods I ordered decaffeinated coffee. I looked over to the desk where Percy was staying. He was doing something on his laptop. I went over and sat down beside him.

"How's your paper?" I asked.

"Almost done with my results." He glanced at me and smiled.

I turned around in the computer chair and asked him. "Have you had dinner?"

"I haven't actually."

"Why not?" I got up and checked the refrigerator. "Well, you're not in luck. There's nothing in here."

"I could just pass by a diner or a convenience store on my way home."

"Wait, I think I still have some bread, if you want that." I went over to my desk and retrieved the bread I bought earlier today.

I gave it to Percy and offered him some of my coffee. Percy insisted we shared so he'd take a bite then pass it over to me. Bite and exchange. Despite the fact that I would have loved to just stay there with Percy, I was starting to get sleepy. I _might've_ regret buying decaffeinated coffee.

Percy saw me stifle a yawn and offered to head home already. We both packed up and left the lab. I suggested that we part ways at the entrance of the university but he insisted on walking me home.

We walked past the gate of the university and passed through the closed and dark shops of the outlet mall right outside the campus. When we crossed the bridge, there were no passing cars underneath. The stoplights were still working despite the lack of automobiles on the road. It was already quiet but as I could hear the almost inaudible hum of the train as we passed by the well-lit station. We continued walking and the next bright establishment was McDonald's then a convenience store. With the low temperatures, all the establishments looked so inviting. Just think of the heaters.

"Do you mind if I buy something from here?" Percy asked me, snapping me out of my heater thoughts.

I walked into the convenience store faster than he can finish his question. I heard him chuckle as he followed behind me. I looked around the store and saw Percy choosing between the ready meals. I completely forgot that he hasn't had his dinner. I went over to him and browsed as well.

"Hmm, the hamburger steak is good." I suggested and proceeded to point at a packed meal. "So is this."

He obliged, got both meals, and went to the refreshments section. He got a bottle of hot milk tea and a large cookie when he went up to the cashier with me in tow.

"Someone's hungry." I noted, making him chuckle.

"Good evening. Is this for takeout or dine in?" The cashier asked as he was scanning the items.

Percy glanced at me for a moment and I answered for him. "Dine in. No need to pack it." Percy smiled at me.

I sat down on a table and got comfortable, removing my beanie, scarf, and coat. I was fixing my hair when I caught a glimpse of Percy heating up his dinner in the microwave. He looked up, we locked eyes, and he gave me one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen spread across his face, making me immediately look down the table. _Oh gods._ Thalia is getting in my head.

"Ow, ouch, ow, ouch, ow, ouch." Percy repeated as he went to our table, holding his heated dinner. "This better be worth the trouble."

"You _do_ know that they have trays where you can put the meals so you won't burn your fingertips like you did?"

He opened the hamburger steak and ate it with so much gusto that I felt guilty about having him wait this long to have dinner. He offered me some but I had to decline. He opened up his second dinner, which was a rice meal with ground meat and some ground up scrambled egg, and I figured I look for something to buy instead of watching him eat. I ended up buying hot milk tea and this dessert in a cup, silken tofu with syrup and tapioca pearls.

"I'm intrigued by your tea." I said, uncapping the tin bottle and sipping. "Mmm, why am I just tasting this now?" I looked at him in disbelief.

He finished his meal and smiled at me proudly. "Good right?"

"Do you spent most of your time trying things from the convenience store?" I laughed.

"Well, you could say that."

"Have you tried this?" I showed him my dessert in a cup.

He pursed his lips and then shook his head. "I'm quite curious with what you got."

I opened the cup and looked at him. "Let's try it then."

We tried that dessert and looked at each other with wide eyes as we savored it. The tofu was silky smooth and creamy while the tapioca pearls added a bite to it. The syrup was sweet but not overpowering so you can still taste the tofu.

"I think you're on to something." Percy said.

"I'm always on to something." I winked at him.

He looked down at the table and visibly turned red. It was really obvious because of the very bright LED lights. I smiled to myself, happy with the fact that I had this effect on someone. He got his cookie, broke it in half, and gave the half to me. Once we were finished, Percy threw away the containers and then we wore our outerwear, ready to brace the cold weather. Percy glanced at me before heading for the door and reached out to tuck a lock of hair underneath my beanie. Taken aback, I raised my eyebrows at him. He just gave me a small smile and stepped back.

 _Gods, take everything with a grain of salt, Annabeth._

We made sure we didn't leave anything behind and exited the convenience store. I held my tin bottle tightly because the warmth felt good. I looked up at Percy and saw a white spec on his coat and also his hair. Dandruff? Uhm. How do I tell him?

He looked at me, smiled, and looked up. "It's snowing."

I internally laughed at myself. I smiled widely at him and looked up. It was the first time to snow this season. As much as I loved seeing it snow, I was already cold. Percy looked at me, probably saw how white my knuckles were as I gripped the warm tin bottle tightly, because he withdrew his hands from his pockets and held my hands. I didn't pull back even though I was surprised. Surprisingly, his hands were warm. He held my hands for a couple blocks before letting go and sticking his hands back into his pockets. Since my apartment was relatively near the university, it only took a while to get to my place. Percy walked me all the way up to my door. I was supposed to invite him in and offer him a drink or what but I was sleepy and he looked like it too. We said our goodbyes and separated.

I removed my shoes, peeled off my clothes, and got ready for bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep. I woke up feeling well-rested, which felt nice because it's been a long time since this happened, and it looks like I woke up even before my alarm rang. I got up feeling happy and started getting ready. I took a long hot shower, relishing the relaxing water. I played the most upbeat song I have on my phone and walked to the kitchen to make a cup of hot coffee, my personal nectar. With my towel wrapped around me, I looked at my closet, thinking of what to wear while enjoying my coffee.

The weather forecast said that it would be colder today. I wore a thermal shirt underneath the chunkiest knit sweater I had along with some denim jeans. I wore ankle boots to hide my thick fuzzy socks. Once I finished my coffee and brushed my teeth, I wore my coat, scarf, and beanie and headed to the lab.

People were rushing to their jobs and to their classes while I took my time. I knew my calculation cases would still be the same as I left it last night so I didn't bother scurrying. I appreciated how the snow was falling and piling up on the streets and sidewalks. The warmth of the sun was nice too but the cold air contrasted that.

When I got to the lab, only a few people were already there. Luke was still taking care of his soil samples and Grover was writing his paper. The Stolls were probably still asleep. Malcolm was in his part time job.

"Hi." Someone said behind me right after I entered the lab.

I turned around and saw Beckendorf. I was so excited to see him back in the lab that a smile instantly appeared on my face as I threw my arms around him.

"How are you, Beckendorf?" I asked him as I let him go.

"I'm good. Still looking for jobs that Chiron would be fine with."

Charles Beckendorf is a second-year master's student, which means that he's graduating. It's been weeks since I last saw him because he's busy looking for a job and it's a practice in this laboratory that Chiron should approve of the job. Every once in a while, Beckendorf comes to the lab to continue his research but most of the time, he's at job interviews.

Beckendorf sat down on his desk and booted up his computer. I placed my things on my desk and removed my outerwear. I checked my calculating PCs and nodded to myself. I chatted with Beckendorf for a bit before the telephone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Annabeth, Chiron wants to talk to you." Dionysus said.

"Alright. I'm on my way." I said and dropped the call.

I got my notebook and pen and wore my coat. I made my way to Building 9, up to the sixth floor, wondering what Chiron wanted to talk about. Maybe he wants an update on my paper or wants to add something to my research. I knocked on his door and opened it. His room was messy. The sides of his room had bookshelves from top to bottom, just filled with books. There was a table in the middle, which was filled with notes and books and surrounded by a number of chairs.

"Hi, Chiron." I smiled.

He looked up from his computer screen and signaled me to sit on the table. He got up and sat in front of me.

"How is your paper, Annabeth?" He asked me after he sipped his coffee.

"I'm just waiting for my simulation calculation to be done so I can write about my results. It would probably be down to the wire but I assure you, my paper will be ready for the conference." I explained as Chiron repeatedly nod.

"Okay, okay. Are you free this afternoon?"

With knitted eyebrows, I said. "I don't think my simulation will finish calculating by today."

"Are you willing to help Cocytus team with their fieldwork today? Aside from Thalia and Will, the rest of Cocytus team aren't around."

I felt like I had no choice but on the other hand, I really didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. I agreed to go but wondered if I could even do proper fieldwork in my choice of clothes for the day. After Chiron dismissed me, I went to the fifth-floor laboratory.

"Hello?" I said as I entered.

I saw Thalia seated on her desk and a black-haired person beside her. Thalia looked up and smiled at me. The person turned around in the computer chair to only to reveal Percy, who had a reddish hue on his cheeks. It could be because of the cold weather.

"Looks like Chiron found me an assistant for today." She smirked at me.

"I thought he called me because of my research." I sighed as I sat down on an empty seat.

"I should get back to the lab. I'll see you around." Percy said as he got up and left.

Thalia waited until the metal door closed behind Percy and said. "Thank the gods, he was just recounting your dinner last night."

I laughed and felt flattered.

"Honestly, you have got to do something with that cousin of mine. Don't be surprised if he gets a tattoo of your name soon. Or the 'PJ+AC' in a heart." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Can you check if my ear is still there? I think he talked it off."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so fill me up on what you need to do on this fieldwork so I'll know if I should run to the apartment and change my clothes."

She looked up and down at what I'm wearing and shrugged. "I think you'll survive in your chunky heels. We'll get an air sample, scum, sludge, and the river's cross-section. Also clean some of the instruments. Just tie your hair, I guess."

I nodded, touching my curly blonde hair, suddenly conscious of it. "What time are you planning to leave? Where's Will?"

"He's just getting the rental car. We could just go to the site by train but we have some cleaning supplies and the field laptop to get the data from the instruments."

"Alright. I'll just get my things and I'll come back here."

I left Thalia and on my way to the elevator, I see Percy on the sixth floor and on his way to Acheron team's room. I went back to Building 10, checked my calculating PCs, got my things, and went back to Thalia. From the looks of it, my simulation would be done in at least five days. This got my all fidgety. What if I don't have enough time to write my paper? What if my results won't be finished by the deadline?

Thalia and I brought down the cleaning supplies and field laptop and packed it in the rental car. Will was driving, Thalia called shotgun, and I was seated at the back. Once we were all wearing our seat belts, Will drove off.

"Annabeth." Thalia called my attention.

I stopped singing along. "Yeah?"

"Do you know where Percy lives?"

Flustered, I reply. "No, should I know where?"

"He lives around an hour away. A couple train stations away." She said matter-of-factly.

"Ok...and you're telling me this because..." I trailed off because I really had no idea what she wanted to say.

"He woke me up around 1AM a while ago, knocking on my door. He asked if he could sleep over because there were no more trains." She turned around so she can look at me. "Any ideas on why he couldn't catch the train home?"

I pursed my lips to stop myself from smiling. I knew exactly why he didn't catch the train home. He was with me. He could've taken a cab but that would be too expensive. He'd really miss the train home just to spend time with me?

Thalia saw my expression and turned back around. "Thought so."

Thalia lived in the same building as me, just a couple floors below.

"Lately, Nico has been talking about Percy a lot too." Will added.

Thalia and I were both quiet. Who knew Nico and Will have been talking to each other?

"See? Look at what my cousin is doing." Thalia said with a groan.

"Percy goes over to Nico when he doesn't catch Thalia in the laboratory. He always tells me that Percy keeps talking about you, Annabeth."

"Since when?" I couldn't help myself. I was starting to get curious.

"Since you called each other sunfishes." Will looked over to Thalia with a questioning look. "Did I even get that right?"

I felt my cheeks get warm then I laughed. "Yeah, that's right."

There was another moment of silence before Thalia asked, "So you and Nico, huh?"

Will was quiet, making everyone quiet. Will and I started singing along to a song on the radio, ignoring Thalia's questions.

We arrive at the site and start setting up at a foot bridge. It was snowing quite hard now. Thalia and Will man the bottom dredge to get some sludge from the bottom of both sides and middle of the river. Meanwhile, I get an air sample by lowering the suction tube a couple centimeters from the surface. Due to the lack of oxygen, the sludge undergoes anaerobic reaction, creating scum which smells. They analyze the odor of the river. Thalia and Will then start using a sonar to get the cross section of the river and using a bucket and rope, I try to get some scum floating on the surface.

Once we secured the samples at the back of the car and cleaned the equipment we used, we went to three separate parts of the river. They set up several instruments along the river, measuring the water level and other water parameters. They leave it for a couple months and go back to it to get the data it measures and clean it. We decided that I get the data and Thalia and Will clean the instruments.

We got back to the university late afternoon. We stowed away the samples and equipment and cleaning supplies used. I went back to my desk and checked my PCs. Still doing fine. I sat down. Now what?

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Thalia.

 _Are you free tonight? Dinner then karaoke?_

I immediately replied saying I'd love to go and if we can go now because I really had nothing else to do. Thalia texts back and tells me to get ready in fifteen minutes and to invite other people from the laboratory to the karaoke. I obliged and announced that we're going to the karaoke later tonight. I predict most of them if not all will go. It's a Friday and almost none of them says no to having some fun.

Like a routine, I checked my PCs, packed up my things, and left the laboratory. Thalia and I met at the entrance of Building 8 and bumped into Percy. I told him about our karaoke night and he seemed like he was more than happy to tag along. Thalia and I ate at the conveyor belt sushi place, which was one of my favorite restaurants near the university.

When I was on my tenth plate, I noticed Thalia had a look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know if I should play matchmaker or not. Pros: Percy would be happy and he'd stop putting so much meaning in all the small things. Cons: you'd spend less time with me and if this didn't work out, I can't spend time with the both of you together." She immediately looked sad.

"You know I'll never be that person who stops spending time with friends because of a boyfriend. You also know that Percy and I would be adults about the hypothetical break-up." I said before popping a sushi in my mouth.

She smirked at me. "Looks like you want this. Alright then."

I rolled my eyes and continued eating. Once I reached 15 plates, I was ready to bill out. We left the restaurant after we paid and headed to the karaoke bar. I wasn't surprised that the people from the laboratory were already there. They already ordered drinks and had their songs queued. Thalia and I got comfortable and started sipping on the red wine they ordered. A few minutes later, she scooted near me, holding the tablet where we can choose songs.

"Do you want to duet? I'm thinking of Cherry Bomb by The Runaways or Cool for the Summer by Demi Lovato."

"Let's do both." I said as I downed my remaining red wine.

We ordered beer and hard drinks too. I was pacing myself because I didn't want to pass up on the chance to see my friends drunk. When our song was up next, someone suddenly went in our room. It was Percy. I hesitated for a moment, suddenly shy, and Thalia saw my hesitation because she gave me a shot of vodka and winked. That gave me a jump and the confidence boost I needed. We sang our songs and danced as the others hooted. I looked over to Percy who just has a small smile as he sipped his beer.

I sat back down and got a couple more vodka shots, some of which I gave to Thalia. I got the tablet and looked for more songs. Hmm, Crave You by Flight Facilities sounds nice. I drank some beer as I watched and sang along as others sang.

"Why can't you want me like the other boys do? They stare at me while I crave you." I crooned and tried to give an inconspicuous wink at Percy.

I passed the mic to the next person. I was contented. Enough songs for tonight.

"Percy, switch places with me." Thalia said. "I need to talk to Grover."

I raised an eyebrow at Thalia as she made her way to Grover. She gave me a thumbs up as Percy sat down beside me.

"Hi." I put my hand on his arm as I greeted Percy.

He greeted me back with his breath smelling like alcohol. "You still okay?"

"Yeah. How about you?" I moved closer to him so he could hear me.

"All good." He whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

He moved away but I kept my eyes on him. His sea green eyes hooded. Maybe he was tired or sleepy or the alcohol. From her seat, Thalia was trying to pass me a drink. Percy handed it to me and I absolutely melted when I tasted it. Kahlua milk. I ordered so much that I felt myself starting to get loud and talkative. By this time, I was drinking beer and Kahlua milk.

"Duet!" Somebody cried out.

"Percy and Annabeth!" Thalia screamed back.

I looked at her with alarmed eyes. Can't they leave me alone with my Kahlua milk? They passed us the mics as the song started playing. It was Latch by Disclosure. I looked over to Percy and he looked excited. After we sang, we passed on the mic. We talked for the remainder of the time we were there. We'd scoot closer to one another and whispering in each other's ears. We were so close that our legs were touching. Sometimes I would rest my hands on my lap but would accidentally graze his leg. With a small "Oops" I'd pull away.

I excused myself to quickly go to the bathroom but instead of taking only a couple minutes, it took me a while because I felt lightheaded. I had to touch the walls to keep myself from falling. I also stayed in the bathroom for a while, splashed some water on my face and getting some fresh air. On my way back to our room, I bumped into Percy.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked.

I smiled, touching his arm. "Yeah, how about you?"

He smiled back. "I'm alright."

We went back in and sat on our spot. It has been a couple hours since we got here so some of them were tipsy and wanted to call it a night. We paid and left the karaoke bar. The ones who wanted to go home were called a cab and driven home while the ones who wanted to drink more made their way back to the laboratory, where cans of alcohol were stored.

Since I was already tipsy and didn't want to fall on my face, I held on to Grover's arm. I held on so tight that I might've left some fingernail marks on him. As we walked back, I realized halfway that I was already holding hands with Percy. I must have let go of Grover and held on to the nearest person. Our fingers were laced and we were both holding on as tight as we could. I didn't care if our palms were sweaty. I saw Grover and Thalia with a teasing looks on their faces but I couldn't care less.

We made it back to the laboratory and we got settled. Luke got us cans of beer but I asked for my favorite. It was this peach flavored cocktail in a can. Since Percy sat in front of me, sometimes my foot would brush against his shin. We decided to play some drinking games. There are some things I never knew till we played Never Have I Ever. As I finished my second can, which was apple flavored this time, I decided to stop. I was bordering tipsy and drunk. As if the gods were against me, Grover got out a bottle of whiskey and they started passing a glass around. Since they only had cola as chaser and I didn't drink soft drinks, they gave me iced tea as chaser.

I placed my forehead against the cold surface of the table. The world was spinning even though I was sitting still. Percy, Luke, and Grover went out to get some fresh air.

"Oh no, Annabeth!" Thalia said.

I looked up and saw her with her hands in front of her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. "What?"

"Oh, honey, are you okay?" She went near me.

I saw vomit pooled around my chair. "Oh no. I'm sorry."

I stood up, avoiding the vomit, and tried to clean up. Thalia already had a rug in hand and a small bucket filled with water.

She was laughing as she cleaned up. "Honey, it's okay. Just sit back down. I'll clean this up."

I tried to get another rug to help her. "I'm so sorry." I said repeatedly.

She made me lie down on the stacked chairs, stroked my hair out of my face, and went back to cleaning. Still saying sorry, I felt something sour going up my throat. _Oh no_. I vomited again, eliciting another laugh from Thalia. I heard the door open and saw the three guys enter. Oh gods. Can the ground just eat me up? I closed my eyes. Maybe if I didn't see them, they wouldn't see me too. I heard them laugh and "aw"-ed sympathetically. Gods, I hate it when people are sympathetic.

I keep muttering. "Sorry."

Someone sat down near my head, stroked my hair out of my face, and started rubbing up and down my arm. It was soothing to have someone stroke my hair, even better than having my hair washed at the salon. The arm rubbing was reassuring and comforting.

"Hey, you have to drink." The same person said, making my eyes open wide.

"I don't want to drink anymore."

"No, it's water." Percy reassured me.

I smiled. "Okay." I drank a cup of water.

I woke up, sat up, and quickly looked around the room. The smell of soap and air freshener was overwhelming. Asleep on stack of chairs, Percy was asleep on the right side of the room and Thalia was on the other side. It was dark and snowing really hard outside. I looked at the clock and it was five in the morning. I slowly stood up, hoping I wouldn't wake anyone up. No headache, no urge to puke, no dizziness, no lightheadedness. Huh, looks like I haven't upset the gods.

Weird as it may be, all I wanted was a cup of coffee. As silently as I can, I made a cup. While waiting for my coffee, I got a glass of water and chugged it down. I didn't notice I was this thirsty.

"Hey." Someone whispered.

I turned around and saw Percy squinting at me. "Oh, hi, did I wake you up?"

"No. Don't worry about it." He got up too and made his way to me. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, weirdly so." I cocked my head to the side.

"I got you to drink two pills of ibuprofen before you slept." He looked proud of himself.

"That's why." I smiled at him, touching his arm. "Thank you for taking care of me."

I looked out the window and started to see the sky turning lighter. I tried to get a better look out the window but it was hopeless. I wanted to see the color gradient of the sky, especially during this time.

"We can go out if you want." Percy suggested. "Just wear your coat cause it looks like it's snowing hard."

I excitedly wore my coat and poured coffee in my mug. "Let's go. Let's go. Let's go."

He gave me an amused smile. "You might want to fix your hair. Looks like a bird's nest."

My hand flew up to the top of my head. Oh gods.

"Here, I'll hold your cup."

We went out to the field and sat down on the bench we sat on a couple days ago. I really didn't care if it was snowing hard. The color of the sky made it worth it to go outside.

"You look so happy, sunfish."

I looked at Percy. "So you're calling me sunfish now? I guess I'll be calling you...Seaweed Brain. Seems more fitting, due to your research." His research was all about seaweeds.

He rolled his eyes but laughed anyway. "Well, at least I know you find me cute."

I looked at him with confused eyes. "What's that now?"

"You probably don't remember parts of last night." He said sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

That's when memories of last night flooded me. We were playing a game. I was sufficiently tipsy and all of the sudden I announced that I found Percy cute and I had a crush on him.

I buried my face in my hand. Oh gods. That's the last time I drink. Alcohol abstinence it is. I heard him chuckle and I peeked at him. He was beaming at me. I placed my hand against my cheek and held my mug near my face.

"Any chance you can forget everything that happened last night?" I whispered.

"Aww." He pouted. "I think it's actually quite adorable. Also puts things into perspective."

I rolled my eyes. "If you say so."

Once the color gradient in the sky was gone, we went back to the laboratory. We woke Thalia up and went home. Percy insisted on walking us up to our doors, like a gentleman.

My weekend was uneventful and so was my week. My simulation finished calculating by Wednesday and it took me until Friday to refine my input data, calibrate my model, and restart calculation. At this pace, I am expecting a week to write my results. My Thursday dinner with Thalia was fine. She told me she had a teensy crush on someone in the lab but won't tell me who. She also told me that Percy still talks to her and Nico about me. Percy's not been around the lab as often as before. Probably finishing his paper or always out doing fieldwork. Who knows? It's not like I keep tabs on him or what.

The following weekend was dedicated to recuperating because I can already feel the stress of writing my results along with my upcoming fieldwork. I was anxious throughout the week because I was expecting the calculation to be done anytime by now. Percy was back. He'd hang around the laboratory every once in a while. Ask me about my research, have lunch with me, have dinner with me, drink coffee together, walk me home. He was done with his research but the nickname Seaweed Brain still stays.

By Friday, my simulation still wasn't done, which terrified me. I only had seven days before the deadline and I had nothing to write about. It was already by Monday when my model was finally done. I checked it and thank the gods for the less than 10% error. I immediately started writing about my results. I would get so caught up with writing that I would forget about eating. Other laboratory members would have to remind me to take a break and eat but most of the time Percy comes over with a takeout meal.

"So when are you planning to go home, Annabeth?" Grover asked me as he sat down beside my desk. "You haven't gone home for a couple days now."

"As soon as I finish my paper. I swear to the gods, I'm almost done with it." I said then took a sip of my second cup of coffee for today. "I just keep seeing things I can add to it."

It was Thursday. The deadline and fieldwork are on Friday but I want to pass it to Chiron by today so he could read it before sending it to the conference.

He looked at my computer screen. "Are you serious? Your paper is pretty much done."

"'Art is never finished.'" I quoted.

"Well, lack of sleep will probably finish you." He got up, gave me a pat on the back, and went back to his desk.

Easy for him to say. He already passed his paper to Chiron.

I continued writing and the next thing to break my concentration was Thalia calling my name for our weekly dinner.

"Just give me a couple more minutes to proofread my paper."

Thalia sat down beside me and patiently waited for me. I scrambled to send my paper to Chiron and wear my outerwear. We went to a ramen shop near the university, which was probably the best dinner for this weather. After dinner, Thalia told me to relax, go back home, and start packing up for tomorrow. She was right. The storm was over. Maybe finally get some decent sleep. Put on a face mask.

Thalia wished me a safe trip for tomorrow when we parted at the stairs of our building. I went to my apartment to pack up for my trip. With a face mask on, I carefully chose my clothes: thermal shirts, thermal leggings, sweatshirts, sweater, fuzzy socks, jacket, coat. I made sure my gadgets and chargers were in my bag. When I was packing up my toiletries, I realized I didn't have sunscreen.

 _Thalia, do you have some sunscreen I can borrow for my fieldwork?_ I messaged her.

She quickly replied saying it was in her drawer back in the university. Good thing I haven't changed my clothes yet. I wore my outerwear and went back to the university. I could easily buy one from a convenience store but I liked Thalia's. When I went up to the fifth floor of Building 9, I saw that the light was on in Cocytus team's room. I opened the door and saw Percy, who looked surprised.

"Hi." I said. "What are you doing here? Aren't you going to go home?"

"I couldn't finish analyzing some data. I didn't feel like staying in my laboratory and there was no one in Building 10, so I went here instead." He explained.

I went over to Thalia's desk and got the bottle of sunscreen. I sat down beside Percy. "Is there any way I can help?"

He shook his head. "It's okay. I'm alright."

"Well, do you need company? I don't think there's anyone else in the building."

"If you want." He smiled at me. "I'm fine by myself here."

I looked at the clock. He already missed the last train. Might as well keep him company. I got comfortable in my chair and watched him work. He said that he has a new research, still about seaweeds. Later that night, I got an email from Chiron regarding my paper. He said that he already sent it to the conference and I'll be presenting it by January next year.

I must have fallen asleep because I felt someone gently shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw Percy carrying two cups of coffee. The clock said it was already five in the morning. I only had three hours before I leave for my fieldwork. I stood up and gratefully got my cup of coffee from Percy. I was about to inhale it but saw the beautiful sight out of the window. There is just something about dawn that I love so much. I held my cup with both my hands and smiled as I appreciated the sky.

"I thought you'd want to see the sky." Percy said behind me.

"I really did." I smiled as I looked back at him. "Thank you for waking me up and making me a cup of coffee."

"Well, thank you for _trying_ to keep me company last night." He placed his arm over my shoulders.

After we watched the sky turn light blue, we went home. Percy brought me to my door and as soon as he left, I went back to packing up my things. I took a quick shower and wore my comfiest chunky knit sweater over my thermal shirt. I wore thermal leggings underneath my jeans, fuzzy socks, and running shoes. I wore my coat, beanie, and scarf and left for the train station.

Luke and Grover were already there when I arrived. We rode two trains and two more bullet trains. Forget having to eat, I was asleep the whole way except for when we had to switch trains.

When we got to the town, we went to a car rental place near the train station, where Chiron was waiting for us. He already rented the car. With Luke as the chosen driver, I was about to get in but Chiron told me to get in the other car. He rented two cars? He said that I'll get the equipment we need for our fieldwork. Another car pulled up and the window rolled down.

"Get in."

"Percy? What? I. What are you doing here?" I asked as I went near the car.

"You left the sunscreen at the lab a while ago." He smiled at me. "Come on. Get in. Chiron seems to be in a hurry."

I quickly placed my bag at the back and got in the front seat. Percy handed me over the bottle of sunscreen and followed Luke's car. I have no idea how Percy convinced Chiron to get two cars because all of us would fit in one car even with the equipment we need.

"So, tell me again why you're here. It's not that I don't want you to be here. I'm just surprised." I said.

"My new research is about the seaweeds in the bay that River Styx flows to." He explained. "I also have fieldwork so I tagged along."

I nodded as I tinkered with the car radio, connecting my phone to it. We sang along to the songs and I offered him some snacks I brought with me. I would feed him chips or place chips on his hand so he could eat while driving. After a while, his phone buzzed and he asked me to check who messaged him. It was Grover saying that we'll have lunch at a ramen shop in town. He told me to reply "Ok". A few minutes later, Luke slowed down and parked at a restaurant. We ate lunch and then went on our way. Percy and I stopped by the equipment shed, where our laboratory keeps all the equipment we use when going to do fieldwork here. With Chiron's instructions, we got tons of equipment and a couple rubber overalls.

For today, we would be going upstream of River Styx to collect water level sensors in different stations. Grover and I would go down to the river wearing our rubber overalls to get the instruments. After this, we went to the guesthouse where all the researchers stay when they go to this town. Since I was the only girl, I got a room all to myself. We all had dinner together and then called it a night. I may or may not have gotten the water level sensors from the car so I can already extract the data.

When I woke up, I quickly took a shower and got ready for a day of fieldwork. We had breakfast then left the guesthouse. We stopped by a convenience store to buy lunch, some refreshments, and snacks.

"This is how I knew which meals are good." I told Percy as we picked our meals.

He laughed. "Which ones do you suggest?"

I pointed to some and to no surprise, he got all of my suggestions. Chiron paid for everything since this was a university sponsored fieldwork. We went to the research facility and started loading our boat with the equipment we'll be using. Percy, on the other hand, started readying his diving equipment. We wore rubber overalls while Percy wore his wet suit. I'm not entirely sure what his research is about but he has to get seaweed samples.

The research facility was owner by one of the local fishermen who was affected when the place was hit by a tsunami. He said that he established the facility so researches on how to restore or make the place better can be done. All the researchers who would come here are from different fields of science. Civil engineers like us. Biologists like Percy.

Eight in the morning until five in the afternoon, Luke, Grover, Chiron, and I were out to sea. With Chiron driving the boat, we went to several stations, which Chiron had the coordinates to. In each station, we had different roles. I would be in charge of manning the horizontal sampler and getting water samples at different depths. Luke was manning the equipment that measured several water parameters. Grover manned the Secchi disk. Whoever are the first two people to finish their jobs man the bottom dredge and the third person gets samples.

When we got back to the research facility, we stowed away the samples in the refrigerator before unloading all our equipment. We ate our meals and stayed in a room to rest. I didn't see Percy around so I assumed he was still in the bay. By six in the evening, we went to the lab to process our samples, which ended around eight.

Since Percy was still nowhere to be found, the four of us headed back to the guesthouse in one car. I took my time showering with the hot water. What we did today was tiring! Once in my pajamas, I went down to the dining room and saw Luke, Grover, and Chiron unwinding. They had cans of beer, chips, and nuts. I joined in and we talked until the wee hours of the morning. They headed to bed because by seven in the morning, we have to wake up for the breakfast served by the guesthouse owner and get back to work in the research facility.

I couldn't really sleep so I continued extracting the data from the water level sensors and once I was done, I still couldn't feel any ounce of sleep. I made myself a cup of tea, wore my coat, and went to the dock a couple meters away from the guesthouse. I sat down and it was complete silence. I smiled to myself as I sipped my hot tea. I looked up at the sky and it was still dark although if I looked far ahead, I could tell that the sun was about to rise. Moments later, I heard a car pull up. The car door opened and closed. The pebbles hit against each other as that person made their way in the guesthouse. Probably one of the researchers.

I looked back at the horizon. It was beautiful. Far ahead, the surface of the ocean was a line. The ocean was dark but at it meets the sky, it was warm orange blending into warm yellow then mixing into the dark blue sky. Dawn was fleeting. You only see it for a few minutes and then the color gradient in the sky is gone.

"We have got to stop meeting like this."

I turned around and saw Percy carrying a can of beer and a blanket.

"What? Meeting like what?" I asked and scooted to make some space for him beside me.

"Meeting at dawn." He said as he sat down beside me and put the blanket over our shoulders.

"We do not." I said as I raised my mug to offer him some of my tea.

"Think about it. Most of our time spent together is at dawn."

"You keep track of our time spent?" I teased.

He rolled his eyes but chuckled. He opened his can of beer and took a sip.

I thought about our time together and there was a fair amount of appreciating dawn.

"Where were you today?"

"Diving. Collecting seaweeds. I had to do night dives too."

I reached out to touch his hair and it was still wet. "Well." I went back to our first subject. "Dawn is pretty nice. I mean, look at those colors and how they melt with each other. It gives me a warm feeling."

I looked up at him and noticed that he was already looking at me. The look on his face was indescribable. I saw his eyes glance at my lips. He reached out to me and wrapped his arm around my waist, placing his lips on mine, open-mouthed and sure. My hands found their way on his shoulders then wound around his neck as I brought him closer. I kissed him back with fervor. I felt his palms on my back as he clutched me closer to him.

He pulled away and breathlessly said in a husky voice. "This gives me a warmer feeling."


End file.
